System and method for physiological parameter monitoring

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure relates to a device, method and system ( 100 ) for calculating, estimating, or monitoring the physiological parameters of a subject. At least one processor, when executing instructions, may perform one or more of the following operations: receiving a first signal representing a pulse wave relating to heart activity of a subject, receiving a plurality of second signals representing time-varying information on the pulse wave, determining a blood oxygen level of the subject based on the plurality of second signals, identifying a first feature in the first signal, identifying a second feature in one of the plurality of second signals, computing a pulse transit time based on a difference between the first feature and the second feature, calculating a blood pressure of the subject based on the pulse transit time.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The application claims priority to International Application No. PCT/CN2015/083334 filed Jul. 3, 2015, International Application No. PCT/CN2015/096498 filed Dec. 5, 2015, and International Application No. PCT/CN2016/070017 filed Jan. 4, 2016, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to a system and method applicable in health-care related areas. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a system and method for physiological parameter monitoring.

BACKGROUND

A traditional blood pressure measurement system, also called sphygmomanometers, employs Korotkoff sounds or an oscillometric method to determine blood pressure based on the relationship of the external pressure and magnitude of arterial volume pulsations. A traditional blood oxygen measurement system uses photoelectric sensors placed on the finger of a patient to detect pulse wave related signals to evaluate a blood oxygen level. Such systems and methods work separately and usually discontinuously with an interval of a few minutes or longer between consecutive measurements. Continuous monitoring of multiple physiological parameters may be beneficial for, for example, hypertension management and cardiovascular risk prediction.

SUMMARY

Some embodiments of the present disclosure relates to a device including memory storing instructions, and at least one processor. The device may estimate or monitor the physiological parameters of a subject. When the at least one processor executing the instructions, the at least one process may perform one or more of the following operations. A first signal representing a pulse wave relating to heart activity of a subject may be received. A plurality of second signals representing time-varying information on the pulse wave may be received. A blood oxygen level of the subject based on the plurality of second signals may be determined. A first feature in the first signal may be identified. A second feature in one of the plurality of second signals may be identified. A pulse transit time based on a difference between the first feature and the second feature may be computed. A blood pressure of the subject may be calculated based on the pulse transit time.

Some embodiments of the present disclosure relates to a method implemented on at least one processor for estimating or monitoring the physiological parameters of a subject. The method may include one or more of the following operations. A first signal representing a pulse wave relating to heart activity of a subject may be acquired. A plurality of second signals representing time-varying information on the pulse wave may be acquired. A blood oxygen level of the subject based on the plurality of second signals may be determined. A first feature in the first signal may be identified. A second feature in one of the plurality of second signals may be identified. A pulse transit time based on a difference between the first feature and the second feature may be computed. A blood pressure of the subject may be calculated based on the pulse transit time.

Some embodiments of the present disclosure relates to a system implemented on memory and at least one processor. The system may be used to estimate or monitor the physiological parameters of a subject. The system may include a first acquisition module, a second acquisition module, a calibration unit and an analysis module. The first acquisition module may acquire a first signal representing heart activity of a subject. The second acquisition module may acquire a plurality of second signals representing time-varying information on the pulse wave, and determine a blood oxygen level of the subject based on the plurality of second signals. The calibration unit may acquire a set of calibration data. The analysis module may identify a first feature in the first signal; identify a second feature in one of the plurality of second signals; compute a pulse transit time based on a difference between the first feature and the second feature, and calculate a blood pressure of the subject based on the pulse transit time.

In some embodiments, the receiving the first signal may include communicating with a first sensor that may acquire the first signal of the subject. Receiving the first signal may include measuring or acquiring the first signal using a first sensor that may acquire the first signal. The first sensor may be part of the device. The receiving the plurality of second signals may include communicating with one or more second sensors. Receiving the plurality of second signals may include measuring or acquiring the second signals using one or more second sensors. The one or more second sensors may be part of the device. The first sensor may include a plurality of electrodes. The one of the one or more second sensors may include a photoelectric sensor.

In some embodiments, the first signal or the second signal may include an optical signal or an electric signal. The first signal or the second signal may include a photoplethysmography (PPG) waveform, an electrocardiography (ECG) waveform, or a ballistocardiogram (BCG) waveform.

In some embodiments, the first feature of the first signal may correspond to a first time point. The identifying the second feature may include selecting a segment of the second signal, the segment occurring within a time window from the first time point; and locating the second feature corresponding to a second time point in the segment. The computing the pulse transit time may include determining a time interval between the first time point and the second time point.

In some embodiments, the at least one processor may further include or communicate with a cuff-based blood pressure monitor. The cuff-based blood pressure monitor may coordinate the blood pressure measurement with the first signal and the plurality of second signals.

In some embodiments, the at least one processor may further receive information relating to the subject or a condition when the first signal or the second signal is acquired. Exemplary information may include, e.g., age, body weight, the time (during the day) or the date the first signal or the second signal is acquired, the room temperature, the mood of the subject at the time, whether the subject has recently exercised, or the like, or a combination thereof. Such information may be taken into consideration when the blood pressure of the subject is calculated using the device.

Additional features will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following and the accompanying drawings or may be learned by production or operation of the examples. The features of the present disclosure may be realized and attained by practice or use of various aspects of the methodologies, instrumentalities and combinations set forth in the detailed examples discussed below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure is further described in terms of exemplary embodiments. These exemplary embodiments are described in detail with reference to the drawings. These embodiments are non-limiting exemplary embodiments, in which like reference numerals represent similar structures throughout the several views of the drawings, and wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary system configuration in which a system for monitoring a physiological signal may be deployed in accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 depicts an exemplary diagram of an engine of the system illustrated in FIG. 1, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of an exemplary process in which a method for estimating a physiological signal is deployed, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an architecture of an acquisition module according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an architecture of a second acquisition unit according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an architecture of an analysis module according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an architecture of a calibration unit according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a process for estimating a physiological parameter of interest according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9-A and FIG. 9-B provide exemplary processing regarding a physiological parameter monitoring according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 10 illustrates an exemplary personal health manager according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 11 depicts the architecture of a mobile device that may be used to implement a specialized system or a part thereof incorporating the present disclosure;

FIG. 12 depicts the architecture of a computer that may be used to implement a specialized system or a part thereof incorporating the present disclosure; and

FIG. 13 illustrates an exemplary device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth by way of examples in order to provide a thorough understanding of the relevant disclosure. However, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present disclosure may be practiced without such details. In other instances, well known methods, procedures, systems, components, and/or circuitry have been described at a relatively high-level, without detail, in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring aspects of the present disclosure.

The present disclosure relates to system, method, and programming aspects of physiological parameter monitoring, for example, blood pressure monitoring. The system and method involve improved sensor design and signal processing. The system and method as disclosed herein may monitor multiple physiological parameters. The characteristics of the system and method may include, for example, real time, simultaneity, continuity, non-invasiveness, improved accuracy, or the like, or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, the system and method as disclosed herein may monitor various cardiovascular activities and related information including, for example, blood pressure information, ECG information, blood oxygenation information, or the like, or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, a blood pressure may be estimated based on pulse wave related information, for example, pulse transit time (PTT), pulse arrival time (PAT), or the like, or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, a blood oxygen level may be estimated based on photoplethysmogram (PPG) signals. The system and method as disclosed herein may be used in a healthcare institute (e.g., a hospital) or at home. The following description is provided with reference to PTT in connection with the blood pressure monitoring for illustration purposes, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Merely by way of example, the system and method as disclosed herein may utilize one or more other pulse wave related information or signals, for example, PAT, for blood pressure monitoring.

These and other features, and characteristics of the present disclosure, as well as the methods of operation and functions of the related elements of structure and the combination of parts and economies of manufacture, may become more apparent upon consideration of the following description with reference to the accompanying drawing(s), all of which form a part of this specification. It is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawing(s) are for the purposes of illustration and description only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. As used in the specification and in the claims, the singular form of “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary system configuration in which a system 100 may be deployed in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. The system 100 may monitor a physiological parameter of interest. The system 100 may include a measuring device 110, a database (for example, a server 120), an external data source 130, and a terminal 140. Various components of the system 100 may be connected to each other directly or indirectly via a network 150.

The measuring device 110 may measure a signal. The signal may be a cardiovascular signal. The signal may relate to or be used to calculate or estimate a physiological parameter of interest. The measuring device 110 may include, for example, a clinical device, a household device, a portable device, a wearable device, or the like, or a combination thereof. As used herein, a clinical device may be one that meets applicable standards and/or specifications to be used in a clinical setting including, for example, a hospital, a doctor's office, a nursing home, or the like. A clinical device may be used by or with the assistance of a healthcare provider. As used herein, a household device may be one that meets applicable standards and/or specifications to be used at home or a nonclinical setting. A household device may be used by someone who is or is not a professional provider. A clinical device or a household device, or a portion thereof, may be portable or wearable. Exemplary clinical devices include an auscultatory device, an oscillometric device, an ECG monitor, a PPG monitor, or the like, or a combination thereof. Exemplary household devices include an oscillometric device, a household ECG monitor, a sphygmometer, or the like, or a combination thereof. Exemplary portal devices include an oscillometric device, a portable ECG monitor, a portable PPG monitor, or the like, or a combination thereof. Exemplary wearable devices include a pair of glasses 111, a shoulder strap 112, a smart watch 113, an anklet 114, a thigh band 115, an armband 116, a chest belt 117, a necklet 118, or the like, or a combination thereof. The above mentioned examples of measuring devices 110 are provided for illustration purposes, and not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. A measuring device 110 may be in another form including, for example, a fingerstall, a wristband, a brassiere, an underwear, a chest band, or the like, or a combination thereof.

Merely by way of example, the measuring device 110 is a wearable or portable device that may measure one or more cardiovascular signals. In some embodiments, the wearable or portable device may process at least some of the measured signals, estimate a physiological parameter of interest based on the measured signals, display a result including the physiological parameter of interest in the form of, for example, an image, an audio alert, perform wired or wireless communication with another device or server (for example, the server 120), or the like, or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, the wearable or portable device may communicate with another device (for example, the terminal 140) or a server (for example, a cloud server). The device or server may process at least some of the measured signals, estimate a physiological parameter of interest based on the measured signals, display a result including the physiological parameter of interest in the form of, for example, an image, an audio alert, or the like, or a combination thereof.

In some embodiments, the operations of processing the measured signals, estimating a physiological parameter, displaying a result, or performing wired or wireless communication may be performed by an integrated device or by separate devices connected to or communicating with each other. Such an integrated device may be portable or wearable. In some embodiments, at least some of the separate devices may be portable or wearable, or located in the vicinity of a subject whose signal is measured or a physiological parameter of interest is estimated or monitored. Merely by way of example, the subject wears the measuring device 110 that may measure one or more cardiovascular signals; the measured one or more cardiovascular signals are transmitted to a smart phone that may calculate or estimate a physiological parameter of interest based on the measured signals. In some embodiments, at least some of the separate devices are located in a location remote from the subject. Merely by way of example, the subject wears the measuring device 110 that may measure one or more signals; the measured one or more signals are transmitted to a processor that may calculate or estimate multiple physiological parameters of interest based on the measured signals; the calculated or estimated physiological parameters of interest may be provided to the subject, or a user other than the subject (for example, a doctor, a care provider, a family member relating to the subject, or the like, or a combination thereof).

In some embodiments, the measuring devices 110 may include various types of sensors including, for example, an electrode sensor, an optical sensor, a photoelectric sensor, a pressure sensor, an accelerometer, a gravity sensor, a temperature sensor, a moisture sensor, or the like, or a combination thereof. The measuring device may monitor and/or detect one or more types of variables including, for example, temperature, humidity, user or subject input, or the like, or a combination thereof. The measuring devices 110 may also include a positioning system, for example, a GPS receiver, or a location sensor, and the position information may be transmitted to the server 120, the external data source 130, the terminal 140, or the like, or a combination thereof, through the network 150. The position information and measured signals may be transmitted simultaneously or successively.

The system may include or communicate with a server or a database configured for storing a library 1100 and/or algorithms 121. The server or database may be the server 120. The server 120 may be a cloud server. Merely by way of example, the server 120 may be implemented in a cloud server that may provide storage capacity, computation capacity, or the like, or a combination thereof. The library 1100 may collect or store data. The data may include personal data, non-personal data, or both. The data may include static data, dynamic data, or both. Exemplary static data may include various information regarding a subject including identity, contact information, birthday, a health history (for example, whether a subject has a history of smoking, information regarding a prior surgery, a food allergy, a drug allergy, a medical treatment history, a history of genetic disease, a family health history, or the like, or a combination thereof), the gender, the nationality, the height, the weight, the occupation, a habit (for example, a health-related habit such as an exercise habit), the education background, a hobby, the marital status, religious belief, or the like, or a combination thereof. Exemplary dynamic data may include a current health condition of a subject, medications the subject is taking, a medical treatment the subject is undertaking, diet, physiological signals or parameters (for example, pulse transit time (PTT), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), or the like) relating to the subject for multiple time points or over a period of time, or the like, or a combination thereof.

The library 1100 maybe stored locally on a measuring device 110, or a terminal 140. The library 1100 may include different sections (e.g., a personal data, a universal data, or the like) with different access control level. For example, personal data may record data and information associated with each individual users, but a subject may have different access permits to different parts of personal data. For example, Subject 1's personal data, Subject 2's personal data, and Subject N's personal data may be stored in the library 1100, but Subject 1 may only have full access to his/her personal data and limited access to other user's personal data.

The personal data may further include, but not limited to, headers, histories, and preferences. Additionally, a header may have a subject's basic information and medical records. A header may include, but not limited to, subject's age, gender, race, occupation, health condition, medical history, life style, marital status, and other personal information. A history may record measured data (M), calibration values (C) (or calibration data), results (SBP, DBP, BP) and additional information associated with every measurement and/or calibration. Furthermore, additional information may be any internal or external variables occurred when a subject is conducting a measurement and/or calibration. External variables may include, room temperature, humidity, air pressure, weather, climate, time, and date, etc. Internal variables such as, body temperature, metabolism rate, mood, level of activity, type of activity, diet, and health condition, etc. The above mentioned examples of additional information are only to provide a better illustration, additional information associated with each measurement and/or calibration may be other types of information, such as viscosity and other rheological data of a subject's blood. In some embodiments, the concepts of additional information and information recorded in a header are interchangeable. When some information originally recorded in a header changes with each measurements, it may also be considered as additional information.

Preference may have information associated with models, for example, a subject's favorite models and coefficients, and favorite models applicability, indicating which favorite model(s) are used under what kind of conditions or with what additional information. A subject's historical data may refer to all the information stored under a history. Preference may also include a rating of a subject, which rates the reliability of the subject's personal data and may be considered as a weight factor when sorting the subject's personal data into peer data. For example, a subject who uploads calibration values (C) every week may have a better rating as compared to another subject who only calibrates once every year. The above mentioned examples of information recorded in a preference, and a preference may include other information, such as which part of personal data a subject is willing to share with other users or organizations.

The universal data may include some non-private or non-personalized data, which may be accessed by other users or subjects. The universal data may include the records of the database of all the models, logics, and public data, for example, models and coefficients, logical judgments to sort peer data from personal data, and statistical results related to calibration values. Peer data may be sorted from multiple subjects' personal data, and logical judgments to sort peer data from personal data serve to find most closely related data according the subjects' headers, and additional information in histories. Logical judgments to sort peer data from personal data may also consider ratings in preferences to weigh the data acquired from different subjects. The above mentioned examples of information recorded in the universal data are only to provide a better illustration, and the universal data may also include other information such as errors (E, E′, E″) associated with each regression analysis. More description may be found in, for example, International Application No. PCT/CN2015/083334 filed Jul. 3, 2015 and International Application No. PCT/CN2015/096498 filed Dec. 5, 2015, which are hereby incorporated by reference.

As used herein, a subject may refer to a person or animal whose signal or information is acquired and whose physiological parameter is acquired, estimated, or monitored. Merely by way of example, a subject may be a patient whose cardiovascular signals are acquired, and blood pressure estimated or monitored based on the acquired cardiovascular signals.

One or more algorithms 121 in the server 120 may be applied in data processing or analysis, as described elsewhere in the present disclosure. The description of the server 120 above is provided for illustration purposes, and not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. The server 120 may have a different structure or configuration. For example, algorithms 121 are not stored in the server 120; instead, the algorithms 121 may be stored locally at the terminal 140. Furthermore, a library 1100 may also be stored at the terminal 140.

The external data sources 130 may include a variety of organizations, systems, and devices, or the like, or a combination thereof. Exemplary data sources 130 may include a medical institution 131, a research facility 132, a conventional device 133, and a peripheral device 134, or the like, or a combination thereof. The medical institution 131 or the research facility 132 may provide, for example, personal medical records, clinical test results, experimental research results, theoretical or mathematical research results, algorithms suitable for processing data, or the like, or a combination thereof. The conventional device 133 may include a cardiovascular signal measuring device, such as a mercury sphygmomanometer. A peripheral device 134 may monitor and/or detect one or more types of variables including, for example, temperature, humidity, user or subject input, or the like, or a combination thereof. The above mentioned examples of the external data sources 130 and data types are provided for illustration purposes, and not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. For instance, the external data sources 130 may include other sources and other types of data, such as genetic information relating to a subject or his family.

The terminal 140 in the system 100 may be configured for processing at least some of the measured signals, estimating a physiological parameter of interest based on the measured cardiovascular signals, displaying a result including the physiological parameter of interest in the form of, for example, an image, storing data, controlling access to the system 100 or a portion thereof (for example, access to the personal data stored in the system 100 or accessible from the system 100), managing input-output from or relating to a subject, or the like, or a combination thereof. The terminal 140 may include, for example, a mobile device 141 (for example, a smart phone, a tablet, a laptop computer, or the like), a personal computer 142, other devices 143, or the like, or a combination thereof. Other devices 143 may include a device that may work independently, or a processing unit or processing module assembled in another device (for example, an intelligent home terminal). Merely by way of example, the terminal 140 includes a CPU or a processor in a measuring device 110. In some embodiments, the terminal 140 may include an engine 200 as described in FIG. 2, and the terminal 140 may also include a measuring device 110.

The network 150 may be a single network or a combination of different networks. For example, the network 150 may be a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a public network, a private network, a proprietary network, a Public Telephone Switched Network (PSTN), the Internet, a wireless network, a virtual network, or any combination thereof. The network 150 may also include various network access points, for example, wired or wireless access points such as base stations or Internet exchange points (not shown in FIG. 1), through which a data source or any component of the system 100 described above may connect to the network 150 in order to transmit information via the network 150.

Various components of or accessible from the system 100 may include a memory or electronic storage media. Such components may include, for example, the measuring device 110, the server 120, the external data sources 130, the terminal 140, peripheral equipment 240 discussed in connection with FIG. 2, or the like, or a combination thereof. The memory or electronic storage media of any component of the system 100 may include one or both of a system storage (for example, a disk) that is provided integrally (i.e. substantially non-removable) with the component, and a removable storage that may be removably connected to the component via, for example, a port (for example, a USB port, a firewire port, etc.) or a drive (for example, a disk drive, etc.). The memory or electronic storage media of any component of the system 100 may include or be connectively operational with one or more virtual storage resources (for example, cloud storage, a virtual private network, and/or other virtual storage resources).

The memory or electronic storage media of the system 100 may include a dynamic storage device that may store information and instructions to be executed by the processor of a system-on-chip (SoC, for example, a chipset including a processor), other processors (or computing units), or the like, or a combination thereof. The memory or electronic storage media may also be used to store temporary variables or other intermediate information during execution of instructions by the processor(s). Part of or the entire memory or electronic storage media may be implemented as Dual In-line Memory Modules (DIMMs), and may be one or more of the following types of memory: static random access memory (SRAM), Burst SRAM or Synch Burst SRAM (BSRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), Fast Page Mode DRAM (FPM DRAM), Enhanced DRAM (EDRAM), Extended Data Output RAM (EDO RAM), Extended Data Output DRAM (EDO DRAM), Burst Extended Data Output DRAM (BEDO DRAM), Enhanced DRAM (EDRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), JEDECSRAM, PCIOO SDRAM, Double Data Rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), Enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), Sync Link DRAM (SLDRAM), Direct Rambus DRAM (DRDRAM), Ferroelectric RAM (FRAM), or any other type of memory device. The memory or electronic storage media may also include read-only memory (ROM) and/or another static storage device that may store static information and instructions for the processor of the SoC and/or other processors (or computing units). Further, the memory or electronic storage media may include a magnetic disk, optical disc or flash memory devices to store information and instructions.

In some embodiments, the SoC may be part of a core processing or computing unit of a component of or accessible from the system 100. The SoC may receive and process input data and instructions, provide output and/or control other components of the system. In some embodiments, the SoC may include a microprocessor, a memory controller, a memory, and a peripheral component. The microprocessor may further include a cache memory (for example, SRAM), which along with the memory of the SoC may be part of a memory hierarchy to store instructions and data. The microprocessor may also include one or more logic modules such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other logic array. Communication between the microprocessor in the SoC and memory may be facilitated by the memory controller (or chipset), which may also facilitate in communicating with the peripheral component, such as a counter-timer, a real-time timer, a power-on reset generator, or the like, or a combination thereof. The SoC may also include other components including, for example, a timing source (for example, an oscillator, a phase-locked loop, or the like), a voltage regulator, a power management circuit, or the like, or a combination thereof.

Merely by way of example, the system 100 may include a wearable or portable device. The wearable or portable device may include a SoC and a plurality of sensors. Exemplary sensors may include a photoelectric sensor, a conductance sensor, or the like, or a combination thereof. The SoC may process signals acquired through at least some of the plurality of sensors. The acquired signals may be various physiological signals including, for example, photoplethysmograph (PPG), electrocardiograph (ECG), or the like, or a combination thereof. The SoC may calculate a physiological parameter of interest based on the acquired signals. Exemplary physiological parameters of interest may be blood pressure, blood oxygen level, ECG information, heart rate, or the like, or a combination thereof.

In some embodiments, the external data source 130 may receive data from the measuring device 110, the sever 120, the terminal 140, or the like, or any combination by the network 150. Merely by way of example, the external data source 130 (for example, a medical institution, or a smart home system, or the like) may receive information relating to a subject (for example, location information, data from the cloud sever or a terminal, or the like, or a combination thereof) based on the data received from the measuring devices 110 or the terminals 140. In some embodiments, the measuring device 110 may receive data from the sever 120, the external data source 130, or the like, or any combination, via the network 150. Merely by way of example, the measuring device 110 may receive the information relating to a subject (for example, a current/historical health condition of a subject, medications the subject is taking, medical treatment the subject is undertaking, current/historical diets, current emotion status, historical physiological parameters (for example, PTT, SBP, DBP) relating to the subject, or the like, or a combination thereof). Furthermore, the terminal 140 may receive data from the measuring device 110, the server 120, the external data source 130, or the like, or a combination thereof.

FIG. 1 is a specific example of the system 100, and the configuration of the system 100 is not limited to that illustrated in FIG. 1. For example, a server 120 may be omitted, migrating all of its functions to a terminal 140. In another example, a server 120 and a terminal 140 may both be omitted, migrating all of their functions to a measuring device 110. The system may include various devices or combinations of devices in different embodiments.

In an example, the system may include a wearable or portable device and a mobile device (for example, a smart phone, a tablet, a laptop computer, or the like). The wearable or portable device may be used to acquire physiological signals, environmental information, or the like, or a combination thereof. The mobile device may be used to receive the signals or information acquired by the wearable or portable device. The mobile device may calculate one or more physiological parameters of interest based on the acquired signals or information, as well as relevant data retrieved from another source (for example, from a server, a memory incorporated in the wearable or portable device, a memory incorporated in the mobile device, etc.). The retrieved relevant data may include, for example, current/historical information stored on the server. Exemplary current/historical information may include a current/historical health condition of a subject, current/historical medications the subject is/was taking, current/historical medical treatment the subject is/was undertaking, current/historical diets, current/historical emotion status, current/historical physiological parameters (for example, PTT, SBP, DBP, ECG information, heart rate, blood oxygen level) relating to the subject, or the like, or a combination thereof. The wearable or portable device, or the mobile device may display or report, or store at least some of the acquired signals, information, the retrieved relevant data, the calculated one or more physiological parameters of interest, or the like, or a combination thereof. The display or report may be provided to a subject, a user other than the subject, a third party, the server, or another device.

In another example, the system may include a wearable or portable device that may perform functions including: acquiring physiological signals or environmental information, retrieving relevant data from another source (for example, from a server, a memory incorporated in the wearable or portable device, etc.), calculating one or more physiological parameters of interest based on the acquired signals, information, or the retrieved relevant data, and displaying, reporting, or storing at least some of the acquired signals, information, the retrieved relevant data, the calculated one or more physiological parameters of interest, or the like, or a combination thereof. The display or report may be provided to a subject, a user other than the subject, a third party, the server, or another device.

In a further example, the system may include a wearable or portable device that may perform functions including: acquiring physiological signals and environmental information, communicating with a server to transmit at least some of the acquired signals or information to the server such that the server may calculate one or more physiological parameters of interest, receiving the calculated one or more physiological parameters of interest from the server, displaying, reporting or storing at least some of the acquired signals, information, the calculated one or more physiological parameters of interest, or the like, or a combination thereof. The display or report may be provided to a subject, a user other than the subject, a third party, the server, or another device. In some embodiments, the communication between the wearable or portable device and the server may be achieved by way of the wearable or portable device being connected to a network (for example, the network 150). In some embodiments, the communication between the wearable or portable device and the server may be achieved via a communication device (for example, a mobile device such as a smart phone, a tablet, a laptop computer, or the like) that communicates with both the wearable or portable device and the server.

In still a further example, the system may include a wearable or portable device, a mobile device (for example, a smart phone, a tablet, a laptop computer, or the like), and a server. The wearable or portable device may be used to acquire physiological signals, environmental information, or the like, or a combination thereof. The mobile device may be used to receive the signals or information acquired by the wearable or portable device, and may calculate one or more physiological parameters of interest based on the received signals and/or information retrieved from the wearable or portable device, as well as relevant data retrieved from, for example, a server, a memory incorporated in the wearable or portable device or incorporated in the mobile device. The mobile device may display, report, or store at least some of the acquired signals, information, the retrieved relevant data, the calculated one or more physiological parameters of interest, or the like, or a combination thereof. The display or report may be provided to a subject, a user other than the subject, a third party, the server, or another device.

In still a further example, the system may include an integrated clinical device or a household device. The integrated device may be wearable or portable. The integrated device may be used to acquire physiological signals, environmental information, or the like, or a combination thereof. The integrated device may further include an output device that may display, report, or output at least some of the acquired signals, information, the retrieved relevant data, the calculated one or more physiological parameters of interest, or the like, or a combination thereof. The display or report may be provided to a subject, a user other than the subject, a third party, the server, or another device. The integrated device may perform one or more measurements for calibrating the integrated device.

In still a further example, the system may include an integrated clinical device or a household device and a server. The integrated device may be wearable or portable. The integrated device may perform functions including: acquiring physiological signals and environmental information, communicating with a server to transmit at least some of the acquired signals or information to the server such that the server may calculate one or more physiological parameters of interest, receiving the calculated one or more physiological parameters of interest from the server, displaying, reporting or storing at least some of the acquired signals, information, the calculated one or more physiological parameters of interest, or the like, or a combination thereof. The display or report may be provided to a subject, a user other than the subject, a third party, the server, or another device. The integrated device may perform one or more measurements for calibrating the integrated device. In some embodiments, the communication between the integrated clinical device or the household device and the server may be achieved by way of the integrated clinical device or the household device being connected to a network (for example, the network 150). In some embodiments, the communication between the integrated device and the server may be achieved via a communication device (for example, a mobile device such as a smart phone, a tablet, a laptop computer, or the like) that communicates with both the wearable or portable device and the server.

In some embodiments, the system may provide a user interface to allow a subject, a user other than the subject, or an entity to exchange information (including input into or output from the system) with the system as disclosed herein. The user interface may be implemented on a terminal device including, for example, a mobile device, a computer, or the like, or a combination thereof. The user interface may be integrated in the system, e.g., a display device of the system. The access to the system may be allowed to one who has an appropriate access privilege. An access privilege may include, for example, a privilege to read some or all information relating to a subject, update some or all information relating to a subject, or the like, or a combination thereof. The access privilege may be associated with or linked to a set of login credentials. Merely by way of example, the system may provide three tiers of access privileges. A first tier may include a full access privilege regarding information relating to a subject, allowing both receiving and updating information relating to a subject. A second tier may include a partial access privilege regarding information relating to a subject, allowing receiving and updating part of information relating to a subject. A third tier may include a minimal access privilege regarding information relating to a subject, allowing receiving or updating part of information relating to a subject Different login credentials may be associated with different access privilege to the information relating to a subject in the system. As used herein, updating may include providing information that does not exist in the system, or modifying pre-existing information with new information.

Merely by way of example, the system may receive information relating to a subject provided via the user interface. The information relating to a subject may include basic information and optional information. Exemplary basic information may include the height, the weight, the age (or the date of birth), the gender, the arm length, the nationality, the occupation, a habit (for example, a health-related habit such as an exercise habit), the education background, a hobby, the marital status, religious belief, a health-related history (for example, whether a subject has a history of smoking, a food allergy, a drug allergy, a medical treatment history, a family health history, a history of genetic disease, information regarding a prior surgery, or the like, or a combination thereof), contact information, emergency contact, or the like, or a combination thereof. Exemplary optional information may include, current health condition of the subject, medications the subject is taking, a medical treatment the subject is undertaking, diet. The system may receive, via the user interface, information relating to a specific measurement of, for example, a physiological parameter of interest. Examples of such information may include the motion state of the subject at or around the acquisition time (defined elsewhere in the present disclosure), the emotional state at or around the acquisition time, the stress level at or around the acquisition time, or the like, or a combination thereof. The system may receive, via the user interface, one or more options or instructions. In some embodiments, the options or instructions may be provided by a subject or a user other than the subject answering questions or making selections in response to questions or prompts by the system. In one example, the options or instructions may include a measurement frequency (for example, once a week, once a month, twice a week, twice a month, once a day, twice a day, or the like), a preferred format of the presentation of information to the subject or a user other than the subject (for example, email, a voice message, a text message, an audio alert, haptic feedback, or the like, or a combination thereof). In another example, the options or instructions may include information relating to calculating parameters of interest, for example, rules regarding how to select a model, a function, calibration data, or the like, or a combination thereof.

In some embodiments, the system may provide, via the user interface, information to a subject, or a user other than the subject. Exemplary information may include an alert, a recommendation, a reminder, or the like, or a combination thereof. In one example, an alert may be provided or displayed to the subject or a user other than the subject if a triggering event occurs. Exemplary triggering events may be that at least some of the acquired information or a physiological parameter of interest exceeds a threshold. Merely by way of example, a triggering event may be that the acquired heart rate exceeds a threshold (for example, higher than 150 beats per minute, lower than 40 beats per minute, or the like). As another example, a triggering event may be that the physiological parameter of interest, for example, an estimated blood pressure, exceeds a threshold. In another example, a recommendation may be provided or displayed to the subject or a user other than the subject. Exemplary recommendations may be a request to input specific data (for example, basic information, optional information, updated parameters of interest, updated models, updated functions, updated options and instructions, or the like, or a combination thereof). A reminder may be provided or displayed to the subject or a user other than the subject. Exemplary reminders may include a reminder to take a prescription medication, take a rest, take a measurement of a physiological parameter of interest, or the like, or a combination thereof.

In some embodiments, the system may communicate with the subject, a user other than the subject, and/or a third party through the user interface. Exemplary third parties may be a doctor, a healthcare worker, a medical institution, a research facility, a peripheral device of the subject or a user well-connected to the subject, or the like. Exemplary communications may relate to the health conditions of the subject, a dietary habit, an exercise habit, a prescription medication, instructions or steps to conduct a measurement, or the like, or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, a user interface accessible to or by a third party may be the same as, or different from a user interface accessible to or by a subject. In one example, an output or data may be transmitted to a third party (for example, a computer, a terminal at a doctor's office, a hospital where a health care provider is located and the health condition of the subject is being monitored, or the like, or a combination thereof). The third party may provide feedback information or instructions related to the output information via the user interface. Merely by way of example, a third party may receive information regarding one or more physiological parameters of interest relating to a subject, and accordingly provide a recommendation of actions to be taken by the subject (for example, to take a prescription medication, to take a rest, to contact or visit the third party, or the like, or a combination thereof); the system may relay the recommendation to the subject.

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary diagram including the engine 200. The engine 200 may be configured for acquiring one or more signals and calculating or estimating one or more physiological parameters of interest based on the acquired signals. As illustrated, the engine 200 may be connected to or otherwise communicate with, for example, peripheral equipment 240, and the server 120. The engine 200 may include an information acquisition module 210, an analysis module 220, and an output module 230. The information acquisition module 210 may be configured for acquiring a signal or information relating to a subject, for example, a physiological signal, information relating to the health condition of the subject, or the like, or a combination thereof. The analysis module 220 may be configured for analyzing the acquired signal or information, or determining or estimating a physiological parameter of interest, or both. The output module 230 may be configured for outputting the acquired signal or information, the physiological parameter of interest, or the like, or a combination thereof. As used herein, a module may have an independent processor, or use system shared processor(s). The processor(s) may perform functions according to instructions related to various modules. For example, the analysis module 220, according to relevant instructions, may retrieve acquired signals and perform calculations to obtain one or more physiological parameter of interest.

The information acquisition module 210 may be configured for acquiring a signal or information from or relating to one or more subjects. As used herein, acquiring may be achieved by way of receiving a signal or information sensed, detected, or measured by, for example, a sensor, or by way of receiving an input from a subject or from a user other than the subject (for example, a doctor, a care provider, a family member relating to the subject, or the like, or a combination thereof). For brevity, an acquired signal or information may be referred to as acquired information. As used herein, information may include a signal relating to a subject that is acquired by a device including, for example, a sensor, environmental information that is acquired by a device including, for example, a sensor, information that is acquired otherwise including, for example, from an input by a subject or a user other than the subject, a processed or pre-treated information that is acquired as described, or the like, or a combination thereof. Exemplary sensors may include an electrode sensor, an optical sensor, a photoelectric sensor, a pressure sensor, an accelerometer, a gravity sensor, a temperature sensor, a moisture sensor, or the like, or a combination thereof.

Exemplary acquired information may include physiological information. In the exemplary context of determining blood pressure, the physiological information may include a cardiovascular signal. Exemplary cardiovascular signals may include a photoplethysmogram (PPG) signal, an electrocardiogram (ECG) signal, a ballistocardiogram (BCG) signal, a blood pressure (BP), a systolic blood pressure (SBP), a diastolic blood pressure (DBP), a pulse rate (PR), a heart rate (HR), a heart rate variation (HRV), cardiac murmur, blood oxygen saturation, a density of blood, a pH value of the blood, a bowel sound, a brainwave, a fat content, a blood flow rate, or the like, or a combination thereof. Exemplary acquired information may include information regarding a subject, for example, the height, the weight, the age, the gender, the body temperature, the arm length, an illness history, or the like, or a combination thereof. Exemplary acquired information may include information from or relating to the ambient surrounding a subject (referred to as environmental information) at or around the acquisition time. Exemplary environmental information may include temperature, humidity, air pressure, an air flow rate, an ambient light intensity, or the like, or a combination thereof. As used herein, the acquisition time may refer to a time point or a time period when information relating to the subject, for example, physiological information of the subject, is acquired.

The information acquisition module 210 may receive or load information from the peripheral equipment 240, the server 120, or other devices (not shown) including, for example, an ECG monitor, a PPG monitor, a respiratory monitor, a brainwave monitor, a blood oxygen monitor, a blood glucose monitor, and a device having similar functions. In the disclosure, the term “monitor” and the term “sensor” may be used interchangeably. Examples of peripheral equipment 240 may include a smart watch, an earphone, a pair of glasses, a bracelet, a necklace, or the like, or a combination thereof. The peripheral equipment 240, the server 120, or other devices may be local or remote. For example, the server 120 and the engine 200 may be connected through a local area network (LAN), or Internet. The peripheral equipment 240 and the engine 200 may be connected through a local area network, or Internet. Other devices and the engine 200 may be connected through a local area network, or Internet. The information transmission between the information acquisition module 210 and the peripheral equipment 240, the server 120, or such other devices may be via a wired connection, a wireless connection, or the like, or a combination thereof.

The information acquisition module 210 may receive information provided by a subject or a user other than the subject via, for example, an input device. The input device may include but is not limited to a keyboard, a touch screen (for example, with haptics or tactile feedback), a speech input device, an eye tracking input device, a brain monitoring system, or the like, or a combination thereof. The information received through the input device may be transmitted to a processor, via, for example, a bus, for further processing. The processor for further processing the information obtained from the input device may be a digital signal processor (DSP), a SoC (system on the chip), or a microprocessor, or the like, or the combination thereof. Other types of input device may include cursor control device, such as a mouse, trackball, or cursor direction keys to convey information about direction and/or command selections, for example, to the processor.

The description of the information acquisition module 210 is intended to be illustrative, and not to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The features, structures, methods, and other characteristics of the exemplary embodiments described herein may be combined in various ways to obtain additional and/or alternative exemplary embodiments. For example, a storage unit (not shown in FIG. 2) may be added to the information acquisition module 210 for storing the acquired information.

The analysis module 220 may be configured for analyzing acquired information. The analysis module 220 may be connected to or otherwise communicate with one or more information acquisition modules 210-1, 210-2, . . . , 210-N to receive at least part of the acquired information. The analysis module 220 may be configured for performing one or more operations including, for example, a pre-treatment, a calculation, a calibration, a statistical analysis, or the like, or a combination thereof. Any one of the operations may be performed based on at least some of the acquired information, or an intermediate result from another operation (for example, an operation performed by the analysis module 220, or another component of the system 100). For instance, the analysis may include one or more operations including pre-treating at least part of the acquired information, identifying a characteristic point or feature of the acquired information or the pre-treated information, calculating an intermediate result based on the identified characteristic point or feature, performing a calibration, analyzing the information regarding the subject provided by the subject or a user other than the subject, analyzing the information regarding the ambient environment surrounding the subject at or around the acquisition time, estimating a physiological parameter of interest, or the like, or a combination thereof.

Some operations of the analysis may be performed in parallel or in series. As used herein, a parallel performance may indicate that some operations of the analysis may be performed at or around the same time; a serial performance may indicate that some operations of the analysis may commence or be performed after other operations of the analysis have commenced or finished. In some embodiments, a serial performance of two operations may indicate that one operation commences after the other operation has finished. In some embodiments, a serial performance of two operations may indicate that one operation commences after the other operation has commenced, and the two operations partially overlap. In some embodiments, at least two operations of an analysis may be performed in parallel. In some embodiments, at least two operations of an analysis may be performed in series. In some embodiments, some of the operations of an analysis may be performed in parallel, and some of the operations may be performed in series.

The analysis, or some operations of the analysis, may be performed real time, i.e. at or around the acquisition time. The analysis, or some operations of the analysis, may be performed after a delay since the information is acquired. In some embodiments, the acquired information is stored for analysis after a delay. In some embodiments, the acquired information is pre-treated and stored for further analysis after a delay. The delay may be in the order of seconds, or minutes, or hours, or days, or longer. After the delay, the analysis may be triggered by an instruction from a subject or a user other than the subject (for example, a doctor, a care provider, a family member relating to the subject, or the like, or a combination thereof), an instruction stored in the system 100, or the like, or a combination thereof. Merely by way of example, the instruction stored in the system 100 may specify the duration of the delay, the time the analysis is to be performed, the frequency the analysis is to be performed, a triggering event that triggers the performance of the analysis, or the like, or a combination thereof. The instruction stored in the system 100 may be provided by a subject or a user other than the subject. An exemplary triggering event may be that at least some of the acquired information or a physiological parameter of interest exceeds a threshold. Merely by way of example, a triggering event may be that the acquired heart rate exceeds a threshold (for example, higher than 150 beats per minute, lower than 40 beats per minute, or the like). As used herein, “exceed” may be larger than or lower than a threshold. As another example, a triggering event may be that the physiological parameter of interest, for example, an estimated blood pressure, exceeds a threshold.

The analysis module 220 may be centralized or distributed. A centralized analysis module 220 may include a processor (not shown in FIG. 2). The processor may be configured for performing the operations. A distributed analysis module 220 may include a plurality of operation units (not shown in FIG. 2). The operation units may be configured for collectively performing the operations of a same analysis. In the distributed configuration, the performance of the plurality of operation units may be controlled or coordinated by, for example, the server 120.

The acquired information, an intermediate result of the analysis, or a result of the analysis (for example, a physiological parameter of interest) may be analog or digital. In an exemplary context of blood pressure monitoring, the acquired information, an intermediate result of the analysis, or a result of the analysis (for example, a physiological parameter of interest) may include, for example, a PPG signal, an ECG signal, a BCG signal, a BP, a SBP, a DBP, a PR, a HR, a HRV (heart rate variation), cardiac murmur, blood oxygen saturation (or referred to as blood oxygen level), a blood density, a pH value of the blood, a bowel sound, a brainwave, a fat content, a blood flow rate, or the like, or a combination thereof.

A result of the analysis, for example, a physiological parameter of interest regarding a subject, may be influenced by various factors or conditions including, for example, an environmental factor, a factor due to a physiological condition of a subject, a factor due to a psychological condition of a subject, or the like, or a combination thereof. One or more of such factors may influence the accuracy of the acquired information, the accuracy of an intermediate result of the analysis, the accuracy of a result of the analysis, or the like, or a combination thereof. For instance, a physiological parameter of interest may be estimated based on a correlation with the acquired information; a factor due to a physiological condition may cause a deviation from the correlation; the factor may influence the accuracy of the physiological parameter of interest that is estimated based on the correlation. Merely by way of example, a cardiovascular signal relating to a subject may vary with, for example, time, the psychological condition of the subject, or the like, or a combination thereof. The correlation between a cardiovascular signal with a physiological parameter (for example, the correlation between a PPT value and a blood pressure) of a subject may vary with, for example, the physiological condition of the subject, the psychological condition of the subject, the ambient surrounding the subject, or the like, or a combination thereof. Such an influence may be counterbalanced or compensated in the analysis.

In an analysis, information relating to an influencing condition (for example, environmental information, a physiological condition, a psychological condition, or the like) may be acquired, and a correction or adjustment may be made accordingly in the analysis process. Merely by way of example, the correction or adjustment may be by way of a correction factor. For instance, an environmental correction factor may be introduced into the analysis based on acquired environmental information from or relating to the ambient surrounding a subject at or around the acquisition time. Exemplary environmental information may include one or more of temperature, humidity, air pressure, an air flow rate, an ambient light intensity, or the like. Exemplary environmental correction factors may include one or more of a temperature correction factor, a humidity correction factor, an air pressure correction factor, an air flow rate correction factor, an ambient light intensity correction factor, or the like. As another example, the correction or adjustment may be by way of performing a calibration of the correlation (for example, a calibrated model, a calibrated function, or the like) used to estimate the physiological parameter of interest. As a further example, the correction or adjustment may be by way of choosing, based on information relating to an influencing condition, a correlation from a plurality of correlations used to estimate the physiological parameter of interest.

This description of the analysis module 220 is intended to be illustrative, and not to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The features, structures, methods, and other characteristics of the exemplary embodiments described herein may be combined in various ways to obtain additional and/or alternative exemplary embodiments. For example, a cache unit (not shown in FIG. 2) may be added to the analysis module 220 used for storing an intermediate result or real time signal or information during the processes above mentioned.

The output module 230 may be configured for providing an output. The output may include a physiological parameter of interest, at least some of the acquired information (for example, the acquired information that is used in estimating the physiological parameter of interest), or the like, or a combination thereof. The transmission of the output may be via a wired connection, a wireless connection, or the like, or a combination thereof. The output may be transmitted real-time once the output is available for transmission. The output may be transmitted after a delay since the output is available for transmission. The delay may be in the order of seconds, or minutes, or hours, or days, or longer. After the delay, the output may be triggered by an instruction from a subject, a user other than the subject, or a related third party, an instruction stored in the system 100, or the like, or a combination thereof. Merely by way of example, the instruction stored in the system 100 may specify the duration of the delay, the time the output is to be transmitted, the frequency output is to be transmitted, a triggering event, or the like, or a combination thereof. The instruction stored in the system 100 may be provided by a subject or a user other than the subject. An exemplary triggering event may be that the physiological parameter of interest or that at least some of the acquired information exceeds a threshold. Merely by way of example, a triggering event may be that the acquired heart rate exceeds a threshold (for example, higher than 150 beats per minute, lower than 40 beats per minute, or the like). As another example, a triggering event may be that the physiological parameter of interest, for example, an estimated blood pressure, exceeds a threshold.

The output for transmission may be of, for example, an analog form, a digital form, or the like, or a combination thereof. The output may be in the format of, for example, a graph, a code, a voice message, text, video, an audio alert, a haptic effect, or the like, or a combination thereof. The output may be displayed on a local terminal, or transmitted to a remote terminal, or both. A terminal may include, for example, a personal computer (PC), a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a smart phone, a smart watch, or the like, or a combination thereof. Merely by way of example, an output may be displayed on a wearable or portable device a subject wears, and also transmitted to a computer or terminal at a doctor's office or a hospital where a health care provider is located and monitors the health condition of the subject.

The output module 230 may include or communicate with a display device that may display output or other information to a subject or a user other than the subject. The display device may include a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light emitting diode (LED)-based display, or any other flat panel display, or may use a cathode ray tube (CRT), a touch screen, or the like. A touch screen may include, for example, a resistance touch screen, a capacity touch screen, a plasma touch screen, a vector pressure sensing touch screen, an infrared touch screen, or the like, or a combination thereof.

The peripheral equipment 240 may include any kind of local or remote apparatuses or devices relating to or communicating with the system 100, or a portion thereof. For example, the peripheral equipment 240 may include a storage device, display equipment, a measuring device, an input device, or the like, or a combination thereof.

In some embodiments, a storage module (not shown in FIG. 2) or a storage unit (not shown in FIG. 2) may be integrated in the engine 200. In some embodiments, a storage unit (not shown in FIG. 2) may be integrated in any one of the information acquisition module 210, the analysis module 220, or the output module 230. The storage module (not shown in FIG. 2) or the storage unit (not shown in FIG. 2) may be used for storing an intermediate result, or a result of an analysis. The storage module (not shown in FIG. 2) or the storage unit (not shown in FIG. 2) may be used as a data cache. The storage module (not shown in FIG. 2) or the storage unit (not shown in FIG. 2) may include a hard disk, a floppy disk, selectron storage, RAM, DRAM, SRAM bubble memory, thin film memory, magnetic plated wire memory, phase change memory, flash memory, cloud disk, or the like, or a combination thereof. The storage module (not shown in FIG. 2) or the storage unit (not shown in FIG. 2) may include memory or electronic storage media described in connection with FIG. 1 and elsewhere in the present disclosure.

In some embodiments, the engine 200 does not include a storage module or a storage unit, and the peripheral equipment 240 or the server 120 may be used as a storage device accessible by the engine 200. The server 120 may be a cloud server providing cloud storage. As used herein, cloud storage is a model of data storage where digital data are stored in logical pools, physical storage spanning multiple servers (and often located at multiple locations). The physical environment including, for example, the logical pools, the physical storage spanning multiple servers may be owned and managed by a hosting company. The hosting company may be responsible for keeping the data available and accessible, and the physical environment protected and running. Such cloud storage may be accessed through a cloud service, a web service application programming interface (API), or by applications that utilize the API. Exemplary applications include cloud desktop storage, a cloud storage gateway, a Web-based content management system, or the like, or a combination thereof. The server 120 may include a public cloud, a personal cloud, or both. For example, the acquired information may be stored in a personal cloud that may be accessed after authorization by way of authenticating, for example, a username, a password, a secret code, or the like, or a combination thereof. Non personalized information including, for example, methods or calculation models, may be stored in a public cloud. No authorization or authentication is needed to access the public cloud. The information acquisition module 210, the analysis module 220 and the output module 230 may retrieve or load information or data from the public cloud or the personal clouds. Any one of these modules may transmit signals and data to the public cloud or personal cloud.

Connection or transmission between any two of the information acquisition module 210, the analysis module 220, and the output module 230 may be via a wired connection, a wireless connection, or the like, or a combination thereof. At least two of these modules may be connected with different peripheral equipment. At least two of these modules may be connected with the same peripheral equipment. The peripheral equipment 240 may be connected with one or more modules via a wired connection, a wireless connection, or the like, or a combination thereof. Those skilled in the art should understand that the above embodiments are only utilized to describe the invention in the present disclosure. There are many modifications and variations to the present disclosure without departing the spirit of the invention disclosed in the present disclosure. For example, the information acquisition module 210 and the output module 230 may be integrated in an independent module configured for acquiring and outputting signals or results. The independent module may be connected with the analysis module 220 via a wired connection, a wireless connection, or the like, or a combination thereof. The three modules in the engine 200 may be partially integrated in one or more independent modules or share one or more units.

The connection or transmission between the modules in the system 100, or between the modules and the peripheral equipment 240, or between the system and the server 120 should not be limited to the descriptions above. All the connections or transmissions may be used in combination or may be used independently. The modules may be integrated in an independent module, i.e. functions of the modules may be implemented by the independent module. Similarly, one or more modules may be integrated on a single piece of peripheral equipment 240. Any one of the connections or transmissions mentioned above may be via a wired connection, a wireless connection, or the like, or a combination thereof. For example, the wired connection or wireless connection may include, for example, a wire, a cable, satellite, microwave, blue tooth, radio, infrared, or the like, or a combination thereof.

The engine 200 may be implemented on one or more processors. The modules or units of the engine 200 may be integrated in one or more processors. For example, the information acquisition module 210, the analysis module 220, and the output module 230 may be implemented on one or more processors. The one or more processors may transmit signals or data with a storage device (not shown in FIG. 2), the peripheral equipment 240, and the server 120. The one or more processors may retrieve or load signals, information, or instructions from the storage device (not shown in FIG. 2), the peripheral equipment 240, or the server 120, and process the signals, information, data, or instructions, or a combination thereof, to calculate one or more physiological parameters of interest. The one or more processors may also be connected or communicate with other devices relating to the system 100, and transmit or share signals, information, instructions, the physiological parameters of interest, or the like with such other devices via, for example, a mobile phone APP, a local or remote terminal, or the like, or a combination thereof.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an exemplary process for estimating a physiological parameter of interest according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Information regarding a subject may be acquired in step 310. The information acquisition may be performed by the information acquisition module 210. The acquired information may include physiological information of the subject, environmental information relating to the ambient surrounding the subject at or around the acquisition time, information provided by the subject or a user other than the subject. The acquired information may include a PPG signal, an ECG signal, a pulse rate, a heart rate, a heart rate variation, blood oxygen saturation, respiration, muscle state, skeleton state, a brainwave, a blood lipid level, a blood sugar level, the height, the weight, the age, gender, the body temperature, the arm length, an illness history, the room temperature, humidity, air pressure, an air flow rate, the ambient light intensity, or the like, or a combination thereof. At least some of the acquired information may be analyzed at 320. Via the analysis, various features of at least some of the acquired information may be identified. For example, the acquired information may include a PPG signal and an ECG signal; the identified features of these signals may include, for example, waveform, characteristic points, peak points, valley points, amplitude, time intervals, phase, frequencies, cycles, or the like, or a combination thereof. Analysis based on the identified features may be carried out in step 320. For example, the physiological parameter of interest may be calculated or estimated based on the identified features. The physiological parameter of interest estimated based on the acquired PPG signal and ECG signal may include, for example, the BP, the SBP, the DBP, the blood oxygen level, or the like, or a combination thereof. The physiological parameter of interest may be outputted in step 330. Some of the acquired information may be outputted in step 330. The output may be displayed to the subject or a user other than the subject, printed, stored in a storage device or the server 120, transmitted to a device further process, or the like, or a combination thereof. It should be noted that after analysis in step 320, a new acquisition step may be performed in step 310.

This description is intended to be illustrative, and not to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The features, structures, methods, and other characteristics of the exemplary embodiments described herein may be combined in various ways to obtain additional and/or alternative exemplary embodiments. For example, a pre-treatment step may be added between step 310 and step 320. In the pre-treatment step, the acquired signals may be pre-treated, in order to reduce or remove noise or interferences in the signals originally acquired. For example, a sophisticated, real-time digital filtering may be used to reduce or remove high-frequency noise from the PPG or ECG signal, allowing their features to be accurately identified. Exemplary pre-treatment methods may include low-pass filtering, band-pass filtering, wavelet transform, median filtering, morphological filtering, curve fitting, Hilbert-Huang transform, or the like, or a combination thereof. Descriptions regarding methods and systems for reducing or removing noise from a physiological signal, for example, a PPG signal or an ECG signal, may be found in, for example, International Patent Application Nos. PCT/CN2015/077026 filed Apr. 20, 2015, PCT/CN2015/077025 filed Apr. 20, 2015, and PCT/CN2015/079956 filed May 27, 2015, each of which is incorporated by reference. One or more other optional steps may be added between step 310 and step 320, or elsewhere in the exemplary process illustrated in FIG. 3. Examples of such steps may include storing or caching the acquired information.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an architecture of an information acquisition module according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The information acquisition module 210 may be connected to or otherwise communicate with, for example, the peripheral equipment 240, the analysis module 220, the output module 230, and the server 120 through the network 150. The information acquisition module 210 may be configured for acquiring information relating to the subject, information provided by the subject, a user other than the subject, and/or a related third party (for example, a doctor, a healthcare worker, a medical institution, a research facility, a peripheral device of the subject or a user well-connected to the subject, or the like), environmental information from the ambient surrounding the subject at or around the acquisition time, or the like, or a combination thereof. The information acquisition module 210 may include a first acquisition unit 410 and a second acquisition unit 420. The first acquisition unit 410 may be configured for acquiring a first signal or first information including a first signal relating to the subject. The second acquisition unit 420 may be configured for acquiring a second signal or second information including a second signal relating to the subject. The first acquisition unit 410 and the second acquisition unit 420 may acquire signals in real time. The first signal and the second signal may be acquired simultaneously, at or around the same time. In some embodiments, other than the first acquisition unit 410 and the second acquisition unit 420, the information acquisition module 210 may include one or more other acquisition units (not shown in FIG. 4). In some embodiments, the first acquisition unit 410 and the second acquisition unit 420 may be integrated in an independent module or unit.

In some embodiments, the first acquisition unit 410 may be configured for acquiring an ECG signal of the subject. The first acquisition unit 410 may include an ECG monitor (not shown in FIG. 4). The ECG monitor (not shown in FIG. 4) may be of any type, e.g., a clinical device, a house device, a wearable device, a portable device, or the like. The ECG monitor (not shown in FIG. 4) may include a plurality of electrodes used for recording the variations in the electrical potential relating to the cardiovascular activity of the subject. The electrodes may be arranged in a 12-lead form, a 5-lead form, a 3-lead form, or the like. The electrodes may be located on one or more limbs and/or on the chest of the subject. For instance, in the 5-lead form, the electrodes may be located on the chest of the subject. In some embodiments, the first acquisition unit 410 may include a control unit (not shown in FIG. 4). The control unit (not shown in FIG. 4) may be configured for controlling a parameter of the acquisition process. The parameter may include sampling frequency, sampling time interval, or the like, or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, the first acquisition unit 410 may include a storage unit (not shown in FIG. 4). The storage unit (not shown in FIG. 4) may be used for storing the acquired first signals, the parameters, or the like, or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, the acquired signals, the parameters may be stored in any storage device disclosed anywhere in the present disclosure.

In some embodiments, the second acquisition unit 420 may be configured for acquiring a PPG signal or acquiring information including a PPG signal. In some embodiments, the second acquisition unit 420 may include a blood oxygen monitor (not shown in FIG. 4). The blood oxygen monitor (not shown in FIG. 4) may be configured for acquiring the subject's blood oxygen information using a photoelectric sensor. Blood oxygen information may be estimated based on two or more PPG signals. In some embodiments, at least one of the acquired PPG signals together with an ECG signal may be used for calculating PTT, which may be used to estimate a blood pressure value based on a model (see, for example, International Patent Application Nos PCT/CN2015/083334 filed Jul. 3, 2015 and PCT/CN2015/096498 filed Dec. 5, 2015).

In some embodiments, the blood oxygen monitor (not shown in FIG. 4) may include a single photoelectric sensor, or a sensor array including a plurality of photoelectric sensors. A photoelectric sensor may include one or more emitting ends and one or more receiving ends. The emitting end may include one or more light sources. A light source may emit one or more of ultrasound, radio, microwave, millimeter wave, infrared, visible, ultraviolet, gamma ray, or X-ray electromagnetic radiation. As used herein, light may also include any wavelength within the radio, microwave, infrared (IR), visible, ultraviolet (UV), or X-ray spectra, and that any suitable wavelength of electromagnetic radiation may be appropriate for use with the system, device, or apparatus disclosed herein. Merely by way of example, an emitting end may include two light sources, a red light emitting light source such as a red light emitting diode (LED), and an IR light emitting light source such as IR LED; the emitting end may emit light into the tissue of a subject at the wavelengths used to calculate a physiological parameter of interest of the subject (e.g., blood oxygen information). As used herein, for brevity, a specific wavelength may also include wavelengths within a range of the specific wavelength. For instance, the red wavelength may be between approximately 600 nm and approximately 700 nm, and the IR wavelength may be between approximately 800 nm and approximately 1000 nm. In embodiments where a sensor array is used, each sensor may emit a single wavelength. The receiving end may be used for receiving signals resulting from the emitted lights through the subject. In some embodiments, the second acquisition unit 420 may be configured for acquiring the subject's PPG signals from multiple body locations (for example, the head, the neck, the chest, the abdomen, the upper arm, the wrist, the waist, the upper leg, the knee, the ankle, or the like, or a combination thereof). In some embodiments, one or more photoelectric sensors may be placed on any one of the multiple body locations. In some embodiments, one or more photoelectric sensor arrays may be placed on any of the multiple body locations.

In some embodiments, the second acquisition unit 420 may include a control unit (not shown in FIG. 4) and/or a storage unit (not shown in FIG. 4). Similarly the control unit (not shown in FIG. 4) may be configured for controlling the acquisition process of the second signal or second information. The storage unit (not shown in FIG. 4) may be configured for storing the acquired signals and/or information.

The information acquisition module 210 may include one or more other acquisition units (not shown in FIG. 4). For example, an acquisition unit may be configured for acquiring basic information relating to the subject, for example, the height, the weight, the age (or the date of birth), the gender, the arm length, the nationality, the occupation, a habit (for example, a health-related habit such as an exercise habit), the education background, a hobby, the marital status, religious belief, a health-related history (for example, whether a subject has a history of smoking, a food allergy, a drug allergy, a medical treatment history, a family health history, a history of genetic disease, information regarding a prior surgery, or the like, or a combination thereof), contact information, emergency contact, or the like, or a combination thereof. The basic information relating to the subject may be provided by the subject, a user other than the subject, or a third party (for example, a doctor, a healthcare worker, a medical institution, a research facility, a peripheral device of the subject or a user well-connected to the subject, or the like).

In another example, an acquisition unit may be configured for acquiring environmental information surrounding the subject, including temperature, humidity, air pressure, an air flow rate, an ambient light intensity, or the like, or a combination thereof. The environmental information may be acquired in a real time mode (for example, at or around the acquisition time), or may be acquired at a certain time interval (for example, independent of the acquisition time).

In a further example, one or more acquisition units may be configured for acquiring the subject's EMG signals by way of a pressure sensing method, body temperature data by way of a temperature sensing method, or the like, or a combination thereof. In a further example, an acquisition unit may be configured for acquiring BCG signals, blood density information, pH value information of the blood, or the like, or a combination thereof.

The one or more acquisition units may communicate with one or more sensors to acquire information sensed, detected or measured by the one or more sensors. Exemplary sensors include an electrode sensor, an optical sensor, a photoelectric sensor, a conductance sensor, a pressure sensor, an accelerometer, a gravity sensor, a temperature sensor, a moisture sensor, or the like, or a combination thereof.

Merely by way of example, an optical sensor may include an integrated photodetector and a light source. The optical sensor may also include an amplifier. The light source may emit radiation of wavelengths of, for example, the visible spectrum, the infrared region, or the like, or a combination thereof. The photodetector may detect the radiation resulting from light (of a wavelength, or within a range of the wavelength) that impinges upon or into and/or is reflected by a tissue, and reaches the photodetector (or referred to as the reflected radiation). The optical sensor may be placed at a body location of a subject to detect a pulse-related signal of a subject. For instance, the optical sensor may be a PPG sensor. In some embodiments, an optical sensor may include a plurality of light sources, in which a light source may emit light of a wavelength, or within a range of the wavelength. Thus, the plurality of light sources may emit light of various wavelengths, or within a respective range thereof. For instance, the light sources may emit a red light and an infrared light. In some embodiments, an optical sensor may include a plurality of photodetectors, in which a photodetector may be used to detect the reflected radiation resulting from the light of a wavelength, or within a range of the wavelength. In some embodiments, a photodetector may be used to detect the reflected radiation resulting from the emitted light of various wavelengths, or within a respective range thereof. For instance, a photodetector may be used to detect the reflected radiation resulting from the red light and the infrared light.

In some embodiments, a plurality of PPG sensors may be assembled into one device. One PPG sensor of the plurality of PPG sensors may include a light source, and a photodetector; the light source may emit light of a wavelength, or within a range thereof; the photodetector may be used to detect the reflected radiation resulting from the emitted light (of a wavelength, or within a range of the wavelength). The plurality of PPG sensors may include a PPG sensor that includes a red light emitting light source and a photodetector that may detect the reflected radiation resulting from the red light, and a PPG sensor that includes an infrared light emitting light source and a photodetector that may detect the reflected radiation resulting from the infrared light. In some embodiments, at least two of the plurality of PPG sensors may be placed at different locations on the body of a subject. For instance, one PPG sensor may be placed on an upper arm of the subject, and another PPG sensor may be placed on a finger of the subject. In some embodiments, at least two of the plurality of PPG sensors may be placed at or around the same location on the body of a subject. For instance, two PPG sensors may be placed at an upper arm of the subject. In another example, two PPG sensors may be placed at a finger of the subject. In some embodiments, a device may include a PPG sensor; the PPG sensor may include a plurality of light sources and a photodetector; the light sources may emit light of various wavelengths, or within a respective range thereof; the photodetector may be used to detect the reflected radiation resulting from the emitted light of various wavelengths, or within a respective range thereof.

The device may be a wearable or portable device including, for example, a T-shirt, a smart watch, a wristband, or the like, or a combination thereof. The device may further include one or more processors or processing units. The processor or the processing unit may be configured for controlling the process of information acquisition, or may be configured for performing one or more operations of any of the modules. Signals or data may be transmitted between sensors placed at different locations. The transmission may be via a wireless connection (for example, WiFi, blue tooth, near-field communication (NFC), or the like, or a combination thereof), a wired connection, or the like, or a combination thereof. For example, signals received by the sensors may be transmitted through a wireless body sensor network (BSN) or an intra-body communication (IBC).

This description is intended to be illustrative, and not to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The features, structures, methods, and other characteristics of the exemplary embodiments described herein may be combined in various ways to obtain additional and/or alternative exemplary embodiments. For example, the acquisition units may be integrated into an independent unit configured for acquiring more than one information or signal relating to the subject. At least some of the acquisition units may be integrated into one or more independent units. The one or more acquisition units may share a common control unit (not shown in FIG. 4) and/or a common storage unit (not shown in FIG. 4).

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an architecture of a second acquisition unit 420 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The second acquisition unit 420 may be configured for acquiring a second signal or second information including a second signal relating to the subject. In some embodiments, the second acquisition unit 420 may acquire a physiological parameter of interest, e.g., the blood oxygen saturation relating to a subject. The second acquisition unit 420 may include, without limitations to, a first detection unit 510, a second detection unit 520, an A/D converter 530, a processing unit 540, and a storage unit 550.

The first detection unit 510 and/or the second detection unit 520 may be configured for acquiring one or more pulse wave related signals. The first detection unit 510 and the second detection unit 520 may include at least one emitting end (not shown in FIG. 5) configured for emitting one or more lights toward the subject, and at least one receiving end (not shown in FIG. 5) configured for receiving signals resulting from the emitted lights. In some embodiments, the emitting end may include a plurality of light sources, the light source may emit radiation of wavelengths of, for example, visible spectrum, infrared spectrum, far-infrared spectrum, or the like, or a combination thereof. Merely by way of example, the light source may include a light of a suitable wavelength including, for example, red, green, blue, infrared, purple, yellow, orange, or the like, or a combination thereof. For brevity, the light source in the first detection unit 510 may be referred to as the first light source used for emitting a first light, and the light source in the second detection unit 520 may be referred to as the second light source used for emitting a second light. The first light source and the second light source may be the same or may be different. The first light source and the second light source may be constructed separately or combined to be one integrated light source, or share one optical source. The first light and the second light may be emitted alternately, separately, or simultaneously. The first light and the second light may be the same or may be different. In some embodiments, the first light may be a red light, and the second light may include radiation beams of a wavelength at the isosbestic point of HbO (oxygenate hemoglobin) and Hb (hemoglobin) (e.g., an infrared light).

In some embodiments, the first detection unit 510 and/or the second detection unit 520 may include one or more receiving ends (not shown in FIG. 5). Merely by way of example, the first detection unit 510 may include a first receiving end and the second detection unit 520 may include a second receiving end. The first receiving end and the second receiving end may be the same or may be different. In some embodiments, the first receiving end and the second receiving end may be integrated in an independent device (e.g., the first detection unit 510, the second detection unit 520, or any independent device in the system). In some embodiments, the first detection unit 510 and the second detection unit 520 may share one common receiving end. A receiving end may include a photodetector that may detect the reflected or transmitted radiation resulting from the light impinged upon or into and reflected by or transmitted through a tissue of the subject that reaches the receiving end.

The A/D converter 530 may be configured for converting an analog signal to a digital signal. The detected signals by the first detection unit 510 and/or the second detection unit 520 may be transmitted to the A/D converter 530 in real time or after a time delay. Merely by way of example, in the case of blood oxygen information acquisition process, at least two pulse wave related signals (e.g., PPG signals) may be detected. The PPG signals may be converted to digital signals and the converted digital signals may be stored in the storage unit 550 or any storage device disclosed anywhere in the present disclosure. The converted digital signals may be used for subsequent process (e.g., a calculation process). In some embodiments, the detected signals may be processed by the processing unit 540 and the processed signals may be stored in the storage unit 550. Then the processed signals may be loaded by the A/D converter.

The processing unit 540 may be configured for processing the detected signals by the first detection unit 510 and/or the second detection unit 520 or the signals stored in the storage unit 550. In some embodiments, the processing may be performed for reducing or removing noise, baseline drift, artefacts, or other interferences in the detected signals. Exemplary processing techniques may include low-pass filtering, high-pass filtering, band-pass filtering, phase filtering, wavelet transform, median filtering, morphological filtering, curve fitting, Hilbert transform, statistical analysis such as correlation, or the like, or a combination thereof. More detailed descriptions regarding methods and systems for reducing or removing noises may be found in International Patent Application Nos. PCT/CN2015/077026 filed Apr. 20, 2015, PCT/CN2015/077025 filed Apr. 20, 2015, and PCT/CN2015/079956 filed May 27, 2015, each of which is incorporated by reference.

In some embodiments, the processing may be performed for feature extraction, e.g., a direct current (DC) component of the signal, an alternating current (AC) component of the signal, root mean square value within a certain period of time, peak points, valley points, amplitude, or a ratio, logarithm and combination thereof. As used herein, the DC component of the signal may be referred to as a non-pulsatile component or non-varying component of the signal. As used herein, the AC component of the signal may be referred to as a pulsatile component or a time-varying component of the signal. In some embodiments, the signal may be a PPG signal. The PPG signal may be considered as a signal superposition of the DC component and the AC component, wherein the AC component may be the pulsatile component or time-varying component of the PPG signals, which is due to the expansion and relaxation of the blood; the DC component may be the non-pulsatile component or non-varying component of the PPG signals, which is due to the absorption of light by tissue, non-pulsatile blood, and/or venous blood. In some embodiments, the processing may be performed for calculating a physiological parameter of interest (e.g., blood oxygen information) based on the detected signals and/or the extracted features of the signals. During the calculation of the physiological parameter of interest, the features extracted from the detected pulse wave related signals may be used; a calibration curve equation, mathematical calculation model or function may be retrieved. During the calculation, a parameter may be determined, e.g., oxygen saturation coefficient, light attenuation variation, ratio of light attenuation variation between wavelengths, or HbO and Hb concentration, or the like. Merely by way of example, when infrared light and red light are applied for the first detection unit 510 and the second detection unit 520, a blood oxygen level (or blood oxygen saturation) may be calculated based on, for example, the resultant PPG signals. The calculation may include using a linear or nonlinear model. In some embodiments, the blood oxygen level may be estimated or calculated based on the ratio of the AC component of the PPG signals to the DC component of the PPG signals.

The storage unit 550 may be configured for storing data, signal, feature value, information or calculation model recorded in the second acquisition unit 420, generated by the second acquisition unit 420, or inputted into the second acquisition unit 420. The storage unit may include a memory (not shown in FIG. 5) or share the same memory with other unit inside or outside the second acquisition unit 420. The storage unit 550 may include one or both of a system storage (for example, a disk) that is provided integrally (i.e. substantially non-removable) with the component, and a removable storage that is removably connectable to the component via, for example, a port (for example, a USB port, a firewire port, etc.) or a drive (for example, a disk drive, etc.). The storage unit 550 may include or be connectively operational with one or more virtual storage resources (for example, cloud storage, a virtual private network, and/or other virtual storage resources). The storage unit 550 may include a hard disk, a floppy disk, selectron storage, RAM, DRAM, SRAM bubble memory, thin film memory, magnetic plated wire memory, phase change memory, flash memory, cloud disk, or the like, or a combination thereof. The storage unit 550 may be connected or otherwise communicate with other modules or units in the system, the server 120, and the peripheral equipment 240.

The second acquisition unit 420 may include one or more other units 560. In some embodiments, the other units 560 may include a controller or microprocessor or share the same controller or microprocessor with other modules or units inside or outside the second acquisition unit 420. The controller or microprocessor may be configured for controlling a factor or a condition of operations of the first detection unit 510, the second detection unit 520, the A/D converter 530, the processing unit 540 and the storage unit 550. The factor or the condition may include ON/OFF of the detection process, sampling frequency, a detection cycle, a processing parameter, or the like, or a combination thereof.

This description is intended to be illustrative, and not to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The features, structures, methods, and other characteristics of the exemplary embodiments described herein may be combined in various ways to obtain additional and/or alternative exemplary embodiments. For example, the storage unit 550 may be integrated into any unit described in FIG. 5, or the storage unit 550 is not necessary while any storage device disclosed anywhere in the present disclosure may be used. In some embodiments, the first detection unit 510 and the second detection unit 520 may be integrated into an independent unit configured for detecting more than one pulse wave related signal. In some embodiments, at least some of the units described may be integrated into an independent unit. In some embodiments, the second acquisition unit 420 may further include a display device configured for displaying the acquired signals and/or determined physiological parameter of interest (e.g., blood oxygen saturation).

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an architecture of an analysis module according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The analysis module 220 may be connected to or otherwise communicate with, e.g., the peripheral equipment 240, and the server 120 through the network 150. The analysis module 220 may estimate or calculate a physiological parameter of interest relating to a subject based on acquired information. The analysis module 220 may include a pre-treatment unit 610, a recognition unit 620, a calculation unit 630, and a calibration unit 640.

The pre-treatment unit 610 may be configured for pre-treating the acquired information. The pre-treatment may be performed to reduce or remove noise or interferences in the original signals. For example, a sophisticated, real-time digital filtering may reduce or remove high-frequency noise from PPG or ECG waveforms. Exemplary methods for pre-treatment may include low-pass filtering, band-pass filtering, wavelet transform, median filtering, morphological filtering, curve fitting, Hilbert-Huang transform, or the like, or any combination thereof. Descriptions regarding methods and systems for reducing or removing noise from a physiological signal, e.g., a PPG signal or an ECG signal, may be found in, e.g., International Patent Application Nos. PCT/CN2015/077026 filed Apr. 20, 2015, PCT/CN2015/077025 filed Apr. 20, 2015, and PCT/CN2015/079956 filed May 27, 2015, each of which is incorporated by reference.

The pre-treatment unit 610 may include one or more pre-treatment sub-units (not shown in FIG. 6). The pre-treatment sub-units may (not shown in FIG. 6) perform one or more pre-treatment steps for pre-treating the acquired signals in series (e.g., a pre-treatment step performed after another pre-treatment step has commenced or completed) or in parallel (e.g., some pre-treatment steps performed at or around the same time). The pre-treatment unit 610 may control or coordinate the operations of the pre-treatment sub-units (not shown in FIG. 6). The control or coordination may be performed by, e.g., a controller within the pre-treatment unit 610 (not shown in FIG. 6) or a controller outside of the pre-treatment unit 610. The pre-treatment sub-units may be arranged in series or in parallel.

This description is intended to be illustrative, and not to limit the scope of the claims. Many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The features, structures, methods, and other characteristics of the exemplary embodiments described herein may be combined in various ways to obtain additional and/or alternative exemplary embodiments. For example, the pre-treatment sub-units may be combined variously in order to achieve better pre-treatment effect. It should be noted that the pre-treatment sub-units are not necessary for the function of the system. Similar modifications should fall within the metes and bounds of the claims.

The recognition unit 620 is configured for analyzing the acquired information to recognize or identify a feature. In some embodiments, the acquired information may have been pre-treated before it is processed in the recognition unit 620. In the exemplary context of blood pressure monitoring, the acquired information may include a PPG signal, an ECG signal, a BCG signal, or the like, or a combination thereof; exemplary features of the acquired information may include waveform, characteristic points, peak points, valley points, amplitude, time intervals, phase, frequencies, cycles, or the like, or any combination thereof.

The recognition unit 620 may be configured for analyzing different types of information or different portions of information. The analysis may be performed by, e.g., one or more recognition sub-units (not shown in FIG. 6). For example, the acquired information includes various types of physiological signals (e.g., a PPG signal and an ECG signal) and may be analyzed by different recognition sub-units. Exemplary methods that may be employed in the recognition unit 620 may include a threshold method, a syntactic approach of pattern recognition, Gaussian function depression, wavelet transform, a QRS complex detection, a linear discriminant analysis, a quadratic discriminatory analysis, a decision tree, a decision table, a near neighbor classification, a wavelet neural networks algorithm, a support vector machine, gene expression programming, hierarchical clustering, a mean cluster analysis, a Bayesian network algorithm, a principal component analysis, a Kalman filter, Gaussian regression, linear regression, Hidden Markov Model, association rules, an inductive logic method, or the like, or any combination thereof. Various methods may be used in parallel or may be used in combination. Merely by way of example, the recognition unit may use two different methods when processing two types of signals. As another example, the recognition unit may use two different methods, e.g., one method after another, when processing one type of signal.

This description is intended to be illustrative, and not to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The features, structures, methods, and other characteristics of the exemplary embodiments described herein may be combined in various ways to obtain additional and/or alternative exemplary embodiments. Merely by way of example, the analyzed features may be uploaded to the public clouds or the personal clouds and may be used in subsequent calculation or calibration. As another example, the recognition sub-units (not shown in FIG. 6) are not necessary for the function of the system. Similar modifications should fall within the metes and bounds of the present disclosure.

The calculation unit 630 may be configured for performing various calculations to determine, e.g., coefficients of a model or function relating to a physiological parameter of interest, the physiological parameter of interest, or the like, or a combination thereof. For instance, the calculation unit 630 may be configured for calculating, e.g., different coefficients of a model or function relating to a physiological parameter of interest, different coefficients of different models or functions illustrating the correlation of a physiological parameter of interest and one or more measurable signals or other information. The calculation unit 630 may include one or more calculation sub-units (not shown in FIG. 6) to perform the calculations. A physiological parameter of interest may including, e.g., PTT, PTTV (pulse transit time variation), a BP, a SBP, a DBP, a pulse rate, a heart rate, a HRV, cardiac murmur, blood oxygen saturation, a blood density, a blood oxygen level, or the like, or any combination thereof.

Exemplary methods that may be employed in the calculation unit 630 may include a direct mathematical calculation, an indirect mathematical calculation, a compensated calculation, a vector operation, a function operation, a wave speed evaluation, an equation parameter evaluation, a tension evaluation, or the like, or any combination thereof. One or more calculation models may be integrated in the calculation sub-units, or the calculation models may be placed in the server 120, or the calculation models may be placed in public clouds. Different models may be loaded when different coefficients or physiological parameters are to be calculated. For example, a linear calculation model in a calculation sub-unit may be used for calculating the SBP, while another non-linear calculation model in another calculation sub-unit may be used for calculating the DBP. An initial data or intermediate result used for calculating a physiological parameter of interest may be retrieved or loaded from the information acquisition module 210, the analysis module 220, the server 120, the peripheral equipment 240, or the like, or any combination thereof. The initial data and the intermediate result may be combined in various ways in the calculation unit 630.

This description is intended to be illustrative, and not to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The features, structures, methods, and other characteristics of the exemplary embodiments described herein may be combined in various ways to obtain additional and/or alternative exemplary embodiments. In one embodiment, calculated coefficients or calculated physiological parameters may be used as an intermediate result for further analysis. In another example, an individual physiological parameter of interest or one group of related physiological parameters of interest may be calculated by the calculation unit.

The calibration unit 640 may be configured for performing a calibration. The calibration (also referred to as calibration process or calibration procedure) may include one or more steps of retrieving calibration data (or calibration values) for a subject; acquiring a set of information of the subject using a device to be calibrated or used in a future process (e.g., a wearable or portable device); determining a calibrated model or a portion thereof for the calibrated device with respect to the subject, or the like, or a combination thereof. The acquired set of information may include information provided by the subject or a user other than the subject, or information acquired by using the device to be calibrated, or the like, or a combination thereof. A set of calibration data may include a specific physiological parameter of interest obtained in one calibration process, an acquired set of information relating to the specific physiological parameter of interest in the same calibration process.

Merely by way of example, the device to be calibrated may calculate blood pressure (including the SBP and the DBP) based on PTT derived from an ECG waveform acquired using the device and a corresponding PPG waveform acquired using the same device or a different device. In some embodiments, the device to be calibrated may be a portion of the system other than the calibration unit 640. A set of calibration data may include a SBP and a DBP, both measured by a healthcare provider in a hospital setting, and a corresponding ECG waveform and a corresponding PPG waveform acquired using the device to be calibrated. The corresponding ECG waveform and the corresponding PPG waveform acquired using the device to be calibrated may correspond to the SBP and the DBP measured by a healthcare provider. The corresponding ECG waveform and the corresponding PPG waveform may be acquired using the device to be calibrated at or around the time the SBP and the DBP are measured by a healthcare provider.

In some embodiments, a set of calibration data may include a SBP, a DBP, and a corresponding ECG waveform and a corresponding PPG waveform, all acquired using the device to be calibrated. For instance, the calibration unit 640 may include or communicate with a cuff-based blood pressure monitor (see FIG. 7). The cuff-based blood pressure monitor may be integrated into the system or device, or a portion thereof (e.g., the calculation unit, the information acquisition module, or the like). For instance, a cuff-based blood pressure monitor, an ECG monitor that may acquire ECG information, and one or more PPG sensors may be packaged into a device, or a system, or a portion thereof. The cuff-based blood pressure monitor may measure a SBP and a DBP at a certain time interval (e.g., 15 min, 30 min, 1 hour, 2 hour, a day, or the like). The set of calibration data may be acquired automatically based on a default setting of the system, or preset instructions by the subject or a user other than the subject (also referred to as a third party). Exemplary third parties may be a doctor, a healthcare worker, a medical institution, a research facility, a peripheral device of the subject or a user well-connected to the subject, or the like. The set of calibration data acquired by the calibration unit 640 may be transmitted to the calculation unit 630 or other modules or units in real time. The set of calibration data may be stored in a storage device disclosed anywhere in the present disclosure or may be stored in the server 120. If needed, the set of calibration data may be loaded from the storage device or the server 120 automatically.

One or more sets of calibration data may be used to determine coefficients of a calibrated model, or some other portion(s) of the calibrated model. The calibrated model may be used in a future process for calculating the physiological parameter of interest based on another set of information that is acquired using the calibrated device. In a future process, the calibrated device may acquire a set of information that is the same or similar to the set of information acquired for the calibration. For instance, the other set of information may include information acquired using the same device as that used in the calibration (e.g., the device including one or more sensors), information of the same type as that acquired in the calibration (e.g., the age of the subject, the acquisition time during the day, the physiological or psychological condition of the subject, or the like, or a combination thereof), or the like, or a combination thereof. The calibrated model may be used to calculate or estimate the physiological parameter of interest accordingly. Exemplary methods that may be used in the calibration to obtain the calibrated model may include a regression analysis, a linear analysis, a functional operation, reconstitution, Fourier transform, Laplace transform, or the like, or a combination thereof.

In a calibration process, a set of calibration data may include a specific physiological parameter of interest obtained based on a measurement using one or more devices other than the device to be calibrated. Merely by way of example, the specific physiological parameter of interest may be obtained based on a measurement performed on the subject by the calibration unit 640 (e.g., a cuff-based blood monitor). As another example, the specific physiological parameter of interest may be obtained based on a measurement performed on the subject by a healthcare professional in a hospital or a doctor's office. As another example, the specific physiological parameter of interest may be obtained based on a measurement performed on the subject by the subject or someone else using a clinical device or a household device. For instance, the physiological parameter of interest may be measured using a device including, e.g., an auscultatory device, an oscillometric device, an ECG management device, a PPG management device, or the like, or any combination thereof.

In a calibration process, a set of calibration data may include a specific physiological parameter of interest previously calculated or estimated by the system or a portion of the system. Merely by way of example, the physiological parameter of interest calculated by the system based on a set of acquired information and a calibrated function in the system may be used in a next calibration to update or generate a calibrated model, and the updated calibrated model may be used in the future to calculate the physiological parameter of interest (the first aspect of the calibration process described above). As another example, the physiological parameter of interest calculated by the system based on a set of acquired information and a calibrated function in the system may be used in a next measurement for the physiological parameter of interest (the second aspect of the calibration process described above). The calculated physiological parameter of interest of the subject may be stored in a storage device disclosed anywhere in the present disclosure or in the server 120, for future use in connection with the subject or other subjects.

In the exemplary context of estimating BP of a subject (including SBP and DBP), based on PTT, the correlation between BP and PTT may be represented by a model including mathematical processing, and a factored function, while the factored function may include a function (f) and coefficient (B). As used herein, a calibration may include at least two aspects. A first aspect is that a model is determined based on one or more sets of calibration data (or calibration values). The determined model may be referred to as a calibrated model. To use the calibrated model in a specific measurement, signals need to be acquired to provide PTT, and a set of calibration data including PTT0, SBP0, and DBP0. The correlation between BP and PTT may depend on other elements, in addition to PTT. Merely by way of example, the correlation between BP and PTT may depend on HRV, PTTV, in addition to PTT. To use the calibrated model in a specific measurement, signals need to be acquired to provide PTT, HRV, and PTTV, and a set of calibration data including PTT0, SBP0, DBP0, HRV0, and PTTV0.

The first aspect of calibration may be performed using personalized calibration data relating to the subject, or peer data, or empirical data. This aspect of calibration may be performed real time when a specific measurement is performed. A model to be used to estimate BP based on the PTT in the specific measure may be derived based on one or more sets of calibration data. The selection of the one or more sets of calibration data may be based on the PTT in the specific measurement. This aspect of calibration may be perform offline, independent of a specific measurement.

A second aspect of the calibration includes acquiring a set of calibration data to be applied in a calibrated model so that a blood pressure may be estimated based on PTT acquired in a specific measurement, according to the model and the set of calibration data. In some embodiments, the set of calibration data to be used in the specific measurement may be selected from, e.g., a plurality of sets of calibration data. The plurality of sets of calibration data may include personalized data relating to the subject, peer data, or empirical data. The plurality of sets of calibration data may be saved in the system, e.g., in the library 1100 (see FIG. 1). The plurality of sets of calibration data may be saved in a server that is part of or accessible from the system. In some embodiments, the set of calibration data may be selected based on the PTT in the specific measurement.

A calibrated model to be used for a specific subject may be based on the calibration data of the same subject. A calibrated model to be used for a specific subject may be based on a combination of the calibration data of the same subject and calibration data from a group of subjects (e.g., peer data discussed elsewhere in the present disclosure). A calibrated model to be used for a specific subject may be based on the calibration data from a group of subjects (e.g., peer data or empirical data discussed elsewhere in the present disclosure). The specific subject may be included in the group, or not included. The calibration data may be stored in a storage device disclosed anywhere in the present disclosure or the server 120, or the like, or a combination thereof. Personalized calibration data of different subjects may be stored in corresponding personal accounts of respective subjects in the server 120 or a personal cloud. Calibration data from various subjects may be stored in a non-personalized database for future use. For instance, calibration data from various subjects may be divided based on one or more characteristics of the respective subjects. Exemplary characters may include, e.g., age, gender, stature, weight, a body fat percentage, color of skin, a family health history, a life style, an exercise habit or other habit, diet, a psychological condition, a health condition, an education history, occupation, or the like, or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, a portion of the calibration data (e.g., peer data discussed elsewhere in the present disclosure) so divided may be used for calibration purposes by a group of subjects that share the same or similar characteristic(s).

This description is intended to be illustrative, and not to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The features, structures, methods, and other characteristics of the exemplary embodiments described herein may be combined in various ways to obtain additional and/or alternative exemplary embodiments. For example, a storage unit (not shown in FIG. 6) may be added to the calibration unit 640 or the calculation unit 630, or a combination thereof. The storage unit in the calibration unit 640 may store the calibration data or historical data relating to calibration process. The storage unit relating to calculation unit 630 may store calculation algorithms or data relating to calculation process. Additionally, peer data may be used as initial data or an intermediate result during calibrating.

The analysis module 220 may be implemented on one or more processors. Various units of the analysis module 220 may be implemented on one or more processors. For example, the pre-treatment unit 610, the recognition unit 620, the calculation unit 630, and the calibration unit 640 may be implemented on one or more processors. The one or more processors may transmit signals or data with a storage device (not shown in FIG. 6), the information acquisition modules 1, 2, and 3, the peripheral equipment 240, and the server 120. The one or more processors may retrieve or load signals, information, or instructions from the storage device (not shown in FIG. 6), the information acquisition modules 1, 2, and 3, the peripheral equipment 240, or the server 120, and process the signals, information, data, or instructions, or a combination thereof, to perform pre-treatment, calculation of one or more physiological parameters of interest, calibration, or the like, or a combination thereof. The one or more processors may also be connected or communicate with other devices relating to the system 100, and transmit or share signals, information, instructions, the physiological parameters of interest, or the like with such other devices via, e.g., a mobile phone APP, a local or remote terminal, or the like, or a combination thereof.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an architecture of the calibration unit 640 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the calibration unit 640 may be configured for acquiring one or more sets of calibration data. The calibration unit 640 may perform a calibration process regarding a physiological parameter of interest, e.g., blood pressure. The calibration unit 640 may include, without limitations to, a pneumatic device 710, a controller 720, a storage 730, and a transceiver 740.

The pneumatic device 710 may be configured for acquiring a set of calibration data (e.g., SBP0, DBP0, or the like, or a combination thereof.). The pneumatic device 710 may be used to generate compressed air pressure and to receive a set of data based on the variation of the air pressure. In some embodiments, the pneumatic device 710 may include a cuff-based blood pressure monitor. The cuff-based blood pressure monitor may include a cuff (not shown), a pump (not shown), a valve (not shown), a pressure transducer (not shown), or the like. The cuff-based blood pressure monitor may inflate the cuff and acquire a set of calibration data (e.g., SBP0, DBP0, or the like, or a combination thereof.). In some embodiments, the cuff may include an air bladder inside. The pump may be used to supply air for the air bladder or may be used to control the speed or the volume of the air supply. The valve may be used to control ON/OFF of the air supply, inflation or deflation of the air bladder in the cuff. The pressure transducer may be used to detect in real time a pressure or a pressure fluctuation, or may be used to generate an electric signal regarding the pressure or the pressure fluctuation. In some embodiments, the components may be coupled or integrated in the cuff. In some embodiments, some or all of the components may be integrated in the controller 720.

The controller 720 may be configured for controlling a parameter of a process or an operation performed by the calibration unit 640, the pneumatic device 710, or the transceiver 740. The parameter may include an ON/OFF condition, a switching frequency of ON or OFF, a time interval between ON and OFF, a time interval for data acquisition (e.g., 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, 5 hours, 10 hours, 12 hours, 1 day, 2 days, 1 week, 2 weeks, 1 month, 2 months, or the like), or the like, or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, one or more controlling operations in the pneumatic device 710, e.g., the speed or volume of the air supply, inflation or deflation of the air bladder, or the like, may be performed by the controller 720. In some embodiments, the controller 720 may control the inflation and deflation of the air bladder according to the pressure detected by the pressure transducer. For instance, when the pressure reaches or exceeds a predetermined value (which may be generally larger than the systolic pressure) and/or maintains the predetermined value for a predetermined time, the controller 720 stops the inflation of the air bladder and then triggers the deflation of the air bladder. The predetermined value and the predetermined time may be set by system default, the subject, a user other than the subject (e.g., a doctor), or the like. During the deflation, the pressure may be recorded, processed and/or analyzed to obtain some calibration data, e.g., the SBP0 and DBP0 value. In some embodiments, the controller 720 may be configured for processing the received signals or information, e.g., the conversion of a signal from one format to another (for example, from an analog signal to a digital signal), calculating SBP0 or DBP0 based on the pressure change, or the like. In some embodiments, the controller 720 may be configured for coordinating the communication and/or operations of the pneumatic device 710, the storage 730, and the transceiver 740. In some embodiments, the controller 720 may perform a calibration process to obtain a calibrated model that may be used in the calculation process. In some embodiments, the controller 720 may be integrated in the pneumatic device 710.

The storage 730 may be configured for storing data, signal, information, calculation model or calibration model recorded in the calibration unit 640, generated by the pneumatic device 710, generated after the calibration process by the controller 720, or inputted into the calibration unit 640 from the peripheral equipment 240, the subject, or a user other than the subject. The storage 730 may include a storage device disclosed anywhere in the present disclosure, e.g., system storage, a storage module or unit integrated in any module or unit of the system. The storage 730 may be integrated into any unit described in FIG. 6, or the storage 730 is unnecessary while any storage device disclosed anywhere in the present disclosure may be used.

The transceiver 740 may be configured for receiving or transmitting data, signals, information, or instructions among the pneumatic device 710, the controller 720, the storage 730, the peripheral equipment 240 or the server 120. One or both of the receiving and transmitting procedure may be realized through radio technology, RF technology, telephony or Ethernet networks, or the like, or a combination thereof. The receiving and transmitting procedure may be conducted simultaneously or asynchronously. In some embodiments, the transceiver 740 may be integrated in the pneumatic device 710 or the controller 720. The transceiver 740 may receive a signal or information from other portions of the system. For instance, the transceiver 740 may receive a PTT0 acquired by the calculation unit 530 of the analysis module 220. The PTT0 may correspond to blood pressure (including, for example, SBP0 and DBP0) measured by the pneumatic device 710 at or around the acquisition time when the signals (for example, an ECG and a PPG) used to derive the PTT0 are acquired. The time to measure the blood pressure (including, for example, SBP0 and DBP0) by the pneumatic device 710 may be at the same time as the acquisition time. The time to measure the blood pressure (including, for example, SBP0 and DBP0) by the pneumatic device 710 may be less than 1 minute, or 2 minutes, or 3 minutes, or 4 minutes, or 5 minutes, or 8 minutes, or 10 minutes, or 15 minutes, or 20 minutes, or 30 minutes, or 60 minutes apart from the acquisition time.

In some embodiments, the calibration unit 640 may be configured for performing the calibration process automatically. Merely by way of example, the calibration process may be performed at a certain time interval. The time interval may be 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, 5 hours, 10 hours, 12 hours, 1 day, 2 days, 1 week, 2 weeks, 1 month, 2 months, or the like. The time interval may be set by system default, the subject, a user other than the subject (e.g., a doctor), or the like. The calibration process may be performed according to an instruction provided by, for example, a user other than the subject, remotely. For instance, a healthcare provider at a first location may provide an instruction that a calibration process is performed on a subject at a second location away from the first location. For instance, the first location may be a doctor's office, and the second location may be a patient room or the subject's home, and the calibration unit 640 may perform calibration process accordingly. The calibration process may be performed automatically when a triggering event occurs. For instance, an abnormal blood pressure is acquired by other components of the system (for example, according to the method as illustrated in FIG. 8), a calibration process may be performed automatically. The pump may inflate the air bladder automatically at the time interval, thus signals or information regarding the blood pressure may be acquired automatically. The acquired signals or information may be processed to generate a set of calibration data (e.g., SBP0, DBP0, or the like). The set of calibration data may be loaded by the calculation unit 630 and to be used during the calculation process. The measurement of the blood pressure may be coordinated with the acquisition of signals or information for calibration purposes through controller 720 or other modules or units inside or outside the calibration unit 640.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart diagram of an exemplary process for estimating blood pressure according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Beginning in step 810, information including a first signal and a second signal may be acquired. The acquisition of the signals may be performed by the information acquisition module 210. In some embodiments, the first and second signals may be acquired simultaneously, at or around the same time. In some embodiments, one signal may be acquired prior to the other signal. In some embodiments, information including or relating to the first signal or the second signal may be acquired in step 810. For instance, a blood oxygen information may be acquired. As another example, basic information relating to the subject and/or environmental information may be acquired.

Merely by way of example, the first signal or the second signal may be physiological signals, e.g., an electrocardiogram (ECG) signal, a pulse-wave-related signal (such as photoplethysmogram (PPG)), a phonocardiogram (PCG) signal, an impedance cardiogram (ICG) signal, or the like, or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, the first signal and the second signal may be of different types. For example, the first and second signals may be the combination of an ECG signal and a PPG signal, the combination of an ECG signal and a PCG signal, the combination of an ECG signal and an ICG signal, or the like. In some embodiments, the first signal and the second signal may be of the same type. For example, the first and second signals may be two PPG signals that may be detected at different locations on the body of the subject. The exemplary locations on the body of the subject may include, e.g., the finger, the radial artery, the ear, the wrist, the toe, or the locations that are more suitable for ambulatory monitoring in current sensor designs.

In step 820, at least some of the acquired information may be pre-treated. In some embodiments, the acquired first and second signals may be pre-treated. The pre-treatment may be performed to reduce or remove noise or interferences in the signals or signal related data. Exemplary methods that may be used in the pre-treatment may include low-pass filtering, band-pass filtering, wavelet transform, median filtering, morphological filtering, curve fitting, Hilbert-Huang transform, or the like, or any combination thereof. During the process of the pre-treatment, the methods mentioned herein may be used in parallel or may be used in combination. Descriptions regarding methods and systems for reducing or removing noise from a physiological signal, e.g., a PPG signal or an ECG signal, may be found in, e.g., International Patent Application Nos. PCT/CN2015/077026 filed Apr. 20, 2015, PCT/CN2015/077025 filed Apr. 20, 2015, and PCT/CN2015/079956 filed May 27, 2015, each of which is incorporated by reference. Additionally, real-time transformation of time domain or frequency domain may also be implemented in step 820, and the signals or related information may be used in time domain, frequency domain, or both.

In step 830, the features of the first and second signals may be recognized or identified. In the exemplary context of blood pressure monitoring, the first signal or the second signal may include a PPG signal, an ECG signal, a BCG signal, or the like; exemplary features of the first signal or the second signal may include waveform, characteristic points (or fiducial points), peak points, valley points, amplitude, phase, frequency, cycle, or the like, or any combination thereof. For example, one characteristic point may be a peak or a valley of the first signal and a peak or a valley of the second signal, e.g., the peak of R wave of an ECG signal, a peak or a valley of the PPG signal, a fastest rising point of a PPG signal, a higher order moment or a higher order derivative of the PPG signal, a pulse area of the PPG signal, a maximum positive peak of S2 of a PCG signal, or a peak of an ICG signal, or the like.

In step 840, a parameter based on the recognized features of the first and the second signals may be calculated. In some embodiments, the time interval between the characteristic points of the first and second signals may be calculated. In one example, the time interval between the ECG fiducial point (typically the R peak, but may also use the Q/S peak, or even the peak of a PIT wave) and a fiducial point marking the pulse arrival is referred to as the PTT. In another example, the time interval between two pulse wave related signals detected at different locations, e.g., between the carotid and femoral arteries, may be used as the PTT. Further PTTV may be approximated based on a group of determined PTT. HRV may be determined based a group of ΔRR. As used herein, ΔRR refers to a time interval between two adjacent R waves (the maximum point of a QRS waveform).

A pre-treatment step may be performed to assess an acquired signal (for example, an ECG signal, a PPG signal, etc.) before one or more features of the signal is identified. For instance, an acquired ECG signal may be accessed before one or more features of the signal is identified. The assessment may be performed to evaluate whether a valid ECG signal is acquired. The assessment may be performed by way of, for example, a pattern recognition process. For instance, the R peak of an acquired ECG signal may be determined by the pattern recognition process. In some embodiments, the system may identify an abnormal signal or waveform (e.g., an abnormal sinus rhythm R wave, another physiological signal, or the like) that may be unsuitable for determining PTT; such an abnormal signal or waveform may be abandoned to avoid to be involved in the subsequent calculation or analysis. In some embodiments, the acquired ECG signal may be compared with a reference signal to determine whether the acquired ECG signal includes an abnormal R wave. The reference signal may be a normal sinus rhythm ECG signal, or may be retrieved from a database having historical data.

The ECG waveform and the PPG waveform are cyclical signals, i.e. the characteristic points occur substantially cyclically or periodically. Thus PTT′ is approximated by a time interval of the maximum point on the QRS complex on the ECG waveform and a peak point on a subsequent (second) PPG waveform. Similarly, PTT″ also may be approximated by a time interval between the peak point on the QRS complex on the ECG waveform and a peak point on a further (third) PPG waveform. The value of PTT′ and the value of PTT″ are larger than that of PTT, and errors or deviations may occur while estimating blood pressure or other physiological parameters of interest based on such inaccurate PTT′ and PTT″ values. Such errors or deviations may be avoided or reduced by using a PPG waveform from the same cycle (driven by the same heart beat) as the ECG waveform. Thus, during recognition of characteristic points of the PPG waveform, a threshold may be set regarding the time window or segment within which the characteristic points on the PPG waveform may be identified and used to determine PTT. In one example, the time window may be 2 seconds or less. Merely by way of example, an analysis to identify a fiduciary point on a PPG waveform is performed on a segment of the PPG waveform occurring within 2 seconds from the time point when the maximum point on the ECG waveform is identified, in order to approximate the PTT. As another example, an analysis to identify a fiduciary point on a PPG waveform is performed on a segment of the PPG waveform occurring between two consecutive peak points on the ECG waveform, in order to approximate the PTT. As a further example, the time window may be set based on the heart rate of the subject. For instance, the time window may be set based on the heart rate of the subject at or around the acquisition time, or an average heart rate of the subject for a period of time, or an average heart rate of a group of people (for example, a sub-group of people who share a same or similar characteristic with the subject; exemplary characteristic may include age, gender, nation, stature, weight, a body fat percentage, color of skin, a family health history, a life style, an exercise habit or other habit, diet, occupation, illness history, education background, marital status, religious belief, or the like, or any combination thereof.

The cycle of ECG or the cycle of PPG may vary. As an example, the cycle of ECG or the cycle of PPG of different subjects may be different. As another example, the cycle of ECG or PPG of the same subject may vary under different situations (e.g., when the subject is exercising or asleep, at different times of a day, at the same or similar time on different days), or the like, or a combination thereof. In one example, the time window threshold may be set based on the heart rate of a subject (for example, the cycle of average person is approximately 60-120 beats per minute). The heart rate may be an average value over a period of time (e.g., a week, a month, a year, or the like). The heart rate may be one measured at or around the acquisition time. The heart rate may be measured based on, e.g., the ECG signal, the PPG signal, or the like. The time window may be set or updated based on the measured heart rate. In another example, the time window may be set by, e.g., the system, the subject, or a user other than the subject, based on the physiological information of the subject. For example, the physiological information may include motion or not, taking medicine or not, good or bad mood, emotional stress or not, or the like, or a combination thereof. In another example, the time window may be a fixed value defined by the system, the subject, or a user other than the subject (e.g., his doctor, health care provider, or the like).

In step 850, BP (blood pressure) values may be calculated based on the calculated parameters, e.g., the determined PTT (pulse transit time), PTTV (pulse transit time variation) and HRV, or the like, or a combination thereof. The calculation may be performed based on a calibrated model. The calibrated model may include a linear function or model, a nonlinear function or model. The calibration may be performed at step 860. The calibration may be performed periodically, by system default, upon a subject's instruction, or the like. The calibration may be performed automatically at a certain time interval, by system default, upon a subject's instruction, or the like. The calibration may take time-varying properties into account. The time-varying properties may include, e.g., the arterial propagation path of a specific subject, the heart movement of a specific subject, the real-time temperature or humidity, the updated fiducial BP of a specific subject, the updated database storing historical data (SBP/DBP values, BP calculating algorithms, etc.) of a specific subject, the updated database storing reference data of people sharing the same or similar characteristics (e.g., age, gender, stature, weight, a body fat percentage, color of skin, a family health history, a life style, an exercise habit, diet, a psychological condition, a health condition, an education history, occupation, or the like, or any combination thereof), or the like, or any combination thereof.

In some embodiments, the measurement may be performed automatically according to, for example, a default setting of the system, a preset instruction by the subject or a user other than the subject (e.g., a doctor). For example, the measurement may be performed at a certain time interval, e.g., 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, 5 hours, 10 hours, 12 hours, a day, two days, a week, two weeks, a month, two months, or the like. In another example, the measurement may be performed in real time. In some embodiments, the measurement may be performed manually by the subject or a user other than the subject (e.g., a doctor).

While the foregoing has described what are considered to constitute the present disclosure and/or other examples, it is understood that various modifications may be made thereto and that the subject matter disclosed herein may be implemented in various forms and examples, and that the disclosure may be applied in numerous applications, only some of which have been described herein. Those skilled in the art will recognize that present disclosure are amenable to a variety of modifications and/or enhancements. For example, the pre-treatment step 530 may not be necessary. Additionally, a third signal may be acquired if needed, and the third signal may be a signal with the same type with the first signal or the second signal, or may be a signal different with the first signal or the second signal.

FIG. 9-A and FIG. 9-B provide an exemplary process regarding a physiological parameter monitoring according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Beginning in step 901, a first signal may be acquired. The first signal may be an ECG signal. In some embodiments, information including an ECG signal may be acquired. The first signal may be acquired by the first acquisition unit 420 in the information acquisition module 210, or may be acquired by another acquisition unit (not shown), or may be inputted by a subject or a user other than the subject (e.g., a related third party). The first signal may be acquired in real time or may be acquired at a certain interval.

In step 902, second information including a plurality of second signals may be acquired. In some embodiments, the second information may be blood oxygen information of the subject. The second signal may be a PPG signal or another pulse wave-related signal. The plurality of second signals may be acquired simultaneously or may be acquired one after another. The plurality of second signals may be acquired in real time or may be acquired at a certain time interval. Similarly the second information or the plurality of second signals may be acquired by the second acquisition unit 420 in the information acquisition module 210, or may be acquired by another acquisition unit (not shown), or may be inputted by a subject or a user other than the subject (e.g., a related third party).

Merely by way of example, the second information may be blood oxygen information of the subject. The second signal may be a PPG signal or another pulse wave-related signals. During the acquisition of the blood oxygen information, two PPG signals may be acquired. The two PPG signals may be detected from the subject based on light of two different wavelengths (or within a respective range thereof, e.g., red and infrared) emitted by one or more emitting ends of one or more photoelectric sensors. The wavelength may be the visible spectrum, the infrared region, or the like, or a combination thereof. One or more features of the two PPG signals may be extracted. The extraction may be performed by the processing unit 540. The blood oxygen level may be determined or calculated based on the extracted features.

The first signals and the plurality of second signals may be acquired simultaneously or at around a time. The acquired first signals, plurality of second signals, and the determined blood oxygen information may be uploaded to the personal health manager 1000 in step 911. The personal health manager 1000 may be described in detail in FIG. 10.

In step 903, one second signal may be selected from the plurality of second signals. The selection may be performed based on a default setting of the system, or an instruction provided by the subject or a user other than the subject (e.g., a related third party), or a preset condition stored in the system or in the server 120 that may be triggered if applicable, or the like, or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, the preset condition may relate to a parameter of the plurality of second signals, or a parameter regarding an acquisition process of the plurality of second signals. For instance, a second signal resulted from a specific emitted light (e.g., a red light) may be selected. In another example, the selection may be performed based on the intensity of the plurality of second signals, e.g., an intensity threshold may be set, a signal of which the intensity reaches the intensity threshold may be selected. In a further example, the selection may be performed based on the anti-interference ability of the emitted lights, e.g., a signal resulted from a green light of which the anti-interference ability is good may be selected. In some embodiments, the preset condition may relate to a time parameter (e.g., morning, noon, night, or the like), an environmental parameter (e.g., temperature, humidity, air pressure, or the like), a physical condition (e.g., motion or not, taking medicine or not, good or bad mood, emotional stress or not, or the like). The selection may be performed automatically, or may be performed artificially. In some embodiments, the second signal may be a PPG signal. A PPG signal resulted from a green light having a good anti-interference ability may be selected for subsequent process.

In step 904, a parameter based on the first signal and the selected second signal may be determined. In some embodiments, the parameter may be the pulse transit time (PTT). See, for example, FIG. 8. In some embodiments, a parameter such as PTTV, HRV, also may be determined. In step 905, one or more favorite models may be retrieved based on the subject's personal data, universal data, additional information in a history, or the like, or a combination thereof. As used herein, a favorite model may refer to a model that may provide a more accurate estimate of a physiological parameter of interest from acquired information than one or more other models. The information may be acquired from the server 120, or may be measured by a variety of sensors. The sensors may be part of the system 100, or communicate with the system 100. Exemplary sensors may include an accelerometer that may measure the movement conditions of a subject during a measurement, a heart rate sensor that may measure a subject's heart rate during a measurement, a GPS receiver or location sensor that may measure the geographic location where a measurement occurs or the subject is located, a temperature sensor that may measure the environment temperature and/or the body temperature of a subject at or around an acquisition time, a humidity sensor that may measure the environment humidity at or around an acquisition time, or the like, or a combination thereof. The retrieved favorite model(s) may be used to estimate blood pressure based on the acquired signals or information.

In step 906, the system may proceed to determine whether calibration data is available. As used herein, the calibration data may include SBP0, DBP0, PTT0, PTTV0, HRV0, or the like, or a combination thereof. The calibration data may be acquired by the calibration unit 640, or may be acquired by a healthcare provider, or may be acquired by the peripheral equipment 240, or the like. The calibration data may be stored in the calibration unit 640, or the server 120, or any storage device disclosed anywhere in the present disclosure. If the answer is “No,” it may follow at least some steps starting from node A 909 as illustrated in FIG. 9-B. If the answer is “Yes,” a set of calibration data may be selected in step 907. The selection may be performed based on a default setting of the system, or instructions inputted by the subject or a user other than the subject (e.g., a related third party), or a preset condition as described above. In some embodiments, the preset condition may be a time parameter that may be expressed as, for example, a time interval within which the calibration data is acquired. Merely by way of example, the time interval may be 15 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, 40 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, 5 hours, 10 hours, 12 hours, a day, two days, a week, two weeks, a month, two months, or the like. For instance, if the time interval is set as 15 minutes, a set of calibration data acquired within the nearest 15 minutes may be selected to be used in the estimation of SBP and DBP. In some embodiments, the preset condition may be a condition regarding a physical condition determination process. The physical condition may include motion or not, sleep or not, whether taking medicine or not, or the like. As used herein, one physical condition may correspond to one type of calibration data. Merely by way of example, if the subject is in motion, the physical condition may be different with that of in resting state. In this case, a set of calibration data that is acquired under the same or similar physical condition may be selected. The physiological parameters of the subject may vary with the change of the physical condition. Thus while the subject is in a specific physical condition, a corresponding set of calibration data may be used to be involved in subsequent calculation of physiological parameters.

After the set of calibration data is selected in step 907, the system may proceed to step 908 to calculate a physiological parameter of interest. In some embodiments, a blood pressure value of the subject may be calculated based on the determined parameter in step 904 (e.g., PTT, PTTV, HRV, or the like), the selected favorite model(s) in step 905 and the selected set of calibration data in step 907. More detailed descriptions regarding the calculation of the blood pressure may be found in International Application Nos. PCT/CN2015/083334 filed Jul. 3, 2015 and PCT/CN/2015/096498 filed Dec. 5, 2015. The calculated physiological parameter of interest may be uploaded to personal health manager 1000 in step 910. The personal health manager may be described in detail in FIG. 10. In some embodiments, after the physiological parameter of interest is calculated, it may proceed to node B 910 as illustrated in FIG. 9-B.

FIG. 9-B illustrates the process starting from node A 909 regarding physiological parameter calculating or processing according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. If no calibration data is available, the system may proceed to step 912 to determine whether to use system default. If the answer is “Yes,” a physiological parameter of interest may be calculated based on a default setting of the system in step 914. In some embodiments, a blood pressure value may be calculated. The default setting of the system may include a set of calibration data, for instance, (SBP0=120 mmHg, DBP0=80 mmHg, or the like). In some embodiments, the system may determine whether to use peer data (not shown in FIG. 9). As used herein, the peer group is defined as a group of people sharing at least some same or similar characteristics, e.g., same gender, similar age, similar height, similar weight, similar arm length, similar illness history, or the like, or a combination thereof. It should be noted that, other than the peer data, the empirical data may be acquired by statistical analysis based on data of a group of subjects which is not limited to a peer group. The peer data may be used as calibration data in step 914.

If the answer is “No,” the system may proceed to step 913 to acquire a set of calibration data. The calibration data may include SBP0, DBP0, PTT0, PTTV0, HRV0, or the like, or a combination thereof. The set of calibration data may be acquired by the calibration unit 640, or may be acquired by a healthcare provider, or may be acquired by the peripheral equipment 240, or the like. The acquisition of the set of calibration data may be triggered automatically or artificially. In some embodiments, the calibration data may be acquired automatically at a certain time interval (e.g., 15 minutes, 30 minutes, or the like). In some embodiments, while the system detect that there is no calibration data available, an operator (e.g., a doctor) may manually turn on a calibration data acquisition process. Then a physiological parameter of interest (e.g., blood pressure) may be calculated based on the acquired set of calibration data in step 914. The physiological parameter of interest may be uploaded to personal health manager 1000 illustrated in FIG. 10.

In step 915, whether to perform a comparison with historical data and/or peer data may be chosen. The determination may be made by the system or a portion thereof (for example, based on an instruction provided by a subject, a user other than the subject, a third party, or an instruction or a rule derived by machine learning of prior data, prior behaviors of the subject, or of a user other than the subject), or provided by the subject or by a user other than the subject. If the comparison is not chosen, the calculated physiological parameter of interest may be uploaded to the personal health manager 1000 in step 911. If the comparison is chosen, relation information with historical data and/or peer data may be generated in step 910. The relation information may be stored in the server 120, the analysis module 220, or any storage device disclosed anywhere in the present disclosure. The form of the relation information may be text, a graph, a three dimensional image, a code, a voice message, video, an audio alert, a haptic effect, or the like, or a combination thereof. The relation information may be uploaded to the personal health manager 1000 in step 911. Merely by way of example, a variation curve with historical data may be generated. The variation curve may be displayed in real time in the personal health manager 1000.

This description is intended to be illustrative, and not to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The features, structures, methods, and other characteristics of the exemplary embodiments described herein may be combined in various ways to obtain additional and/or alternative exemplary embodiments. For example, any acquired signal, information or data may be uploaded to the server 120. Any determined or calculated data or inter-data may be uploaded to the server 120.

FIG. 10 is an example of the composition and organization of the personal health manager 1000 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The personal health manager 1000 may be stored in the server 120, locally on a measuring device 110, a terminal 140 connected or communicated with the system, or the like, or a combination thereof. For instance, the personal health manager 1000 may be stored in the system. As another example, the personal health manager 1000 may be transmitted to a related third party (e.g., a hospital). The personal health manager 1000 may be displayed on a terminal 140, a display device of the system (not shown), a display device of a third party, or the like, or a combination thereof. The personal health manager 1000 may be integrated as a portion of the system, or may be configured as a peripheral device connected or communicated with the system.

As illustrated in FIG. 10, the personal health manager 1000 may include a plurality of sections showing a plurality of physiological parameters of interest or physiological signals or information of the subject. The sections may include cardiac information (e.g., ECG, heart rate, etc.), blood oxygen related information (e.g., Spo2, pulse rate, PPG, etc.), blood pressure related information (e.g., SBP, DBP, calibration data (e.g., SBP0, DBP0, etc.), etc.). The acquired physiological signals, determined parameters and calculated physiological parameters of interest may be displayed on the personal health manager 1000 in real time. The subject or a user other than the subject may browse the sections to review information relating to the acquired signals, parameters and information at any time by choosing any time point (e.g., 5:00 am, 9:00 am, 10:00 am, 12:00 am, 15:00 pm, 20:00 pm, or the like) or any time interval (e.g., 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, 5 hours, 10 hours, 20 hours, 1 day, two days, a week, two weeks, a month, two months, or the like).

In some embodiments, the personal health manager 1000 may include other relevant information including, for example, personal information (e.g., age, gender, height, weight, illness history, or the like, or a combination thereof.) and external environmental information (e.g., temperature, humidity, air quality, ultraviolet intensity, or the like, or a combination thereof).

In some embodiments, the personal health manager 1000 may include other relevant information including, for example, reference information (not shown in FIG. 10) for a related third party. The related third party may be a doctor, a healthcare worker, a medical institution, a research facility, or the like, or a combination thereof. The reference information may be generated based on the status of the calculated physiological parameters of interest, the basic information of the subject, or both. The reference information may be generated based on the relation information generated in step 910. The reference information may include information regarding determination of surgery spot, or whether needs anesthesia, or type and dose of drugs, or the like, or a combination thereof. The reference information may provide some guidance to the related third party at a right moment.

In some embodiments, the personal health manager 1000 may include other relevant information including, for example, health tips (not shown in FIG. 10) regarding sleep, diet, exercises, or the like, or a combination thereof. The health tips may be retrieved from the server 120 based on the basic information of the subject, the calculated physiological parameters of interest, the variations, or the like, or a combination thereof. A related third party (for example, a doctor, a healthcare worker, a medical institution, a research facility, a peripheral device of the subject or a user well-connected to the subject, or the like) may input some health tips in the personal health manager. Similarly, the subject or a user other than the subject also may input a memo list regarding sleep, diet, exercises, or the like. The subject may customize an information push regarding health tips based on an option or an instruction. More detailed descriptions regarding the personal health manager may be found in International Application No PCT/CN/2015/096498 filed Dec. 5, 2015.

FIG. 11 depicts the architecture of a mobile device that may be used to realize a specialized system implementing the present disclosure. In this example, the device (for example, the terminal 140) on which information relating to blood pressure monitoring is presented and interacted-with is a mobile device 1100, including, but is not limited to, a smart phone, a tablet, a music player, a handled gaming console, a global positioning system (GPS) receiver, and a wearable computing device (for example, eyeglasses, wrist watch, etc.), or in any other form factor. The mobile device 1100 in this example includes one or more central processing units (CPUs) 1140, one or more graphic processing units (GPUs) 1130, a display 1120, a memory 1160, a communication platform 1110, such as a wireless communication module, storage 1190, and one or more input/output (I/O) devices 1150. Any other suitable component, including a system bus or a controller (not shown), may also be included in the mobile device 1100. As shown in FIG. 11, a mobile operating system 1170, for example, iOS, Android, Windows Phone, etc., and one or more applications 1180 may be loaded into the memory 1160 from the storage 1190 in order to be executed by the CPU 1140. The applications 1180 may include a browser or any other suitable mobile apps for receiving and rendering information relating to blood pressure monitoring or other information from the engine 200 on the mobile device 1100. User interactions with the information stream may be achieved via the I/O devices 1150 and provided to the engine 200 and/or other components of system 100, for example, via the network 150.

To implement various modules, units, and their functionalities described in the present disclosure, computer hardware platforms may be used as the hardware platform(s) for one or more of the elements described herein (for example, the engine 200, and/or other components of the system 100 described with respect to FIGS. 1-10 and 13). The hardware elements, operating systems and programming languages of such computers are conventional in nature, and it is presumed that those skilled in the art are adequately familiar therewith to adapt those technologies to the blood pressure monitoring as described herein. A computer with user interface elements may be used to implement a personal computer (PC) or other type of work station or terminal device, although a computer may also act as a server if appropriately programmed. It is believed that those skilled in the art are familiar with the structure, programming and general operation of such computer equipment and as a result the drawings should be self-explanatory.

FIG. 12 depicts the architecture of a computing device that may be used to realize a specialized system implementing the present disclosure. Such a specialized system incorporating the present teaching has a functional block diagram illustration of a hardware platform that includes user interface elements. The computer may be a general purpose computer or a special purpose computer. Both may be used to implement a specialized system for the present disclosure. This computer 1200 may be used to implement any component of the blood pressure monitoring as described herein. For example, the engine 200, etc., may be implemented on a computer such as computer 1200, via its hardware, software program, firmware, or a combination thereof. Although only one such computer is shown, for convenience, the computer functions relating to the blood pressure monitoring as described herein may be implemented in a distributed fashion on a number of similar platforms, to distribute the processing load.

The computer 1200, for example, includes COM ports 1250 connected to and from a network connected thereto to facilitate data communications. The computer 1200 also includes a central processing unit (CPU) 1220, in the form of one or more processors, for executing program instructions. The exemplary computer platform includes an internal communication bus 1210, program storage and data storage of different forms, for example, disk 1270, read only memory (ROM) 1230, or random access memory (RAM) 1240, for various data files to be processed and/or transmitted by the computer, as well as possibly program instructions to be executed by the CPU. The computer 1200 also includes an I/O component 1260, supporting input/output between the computer and other components therein such as user interface elements 1280. The computer 1200 may also receive programming and data via network communications.

Hence, aspects of the methods of the blood pressure monitoring and/or other processes, as outlined above, may be embodied in programming. Program aspects of the technology may be thought of as “products” or “articles of manufacture” typically in the form of executable code and/or associated data that is carried on or embodied in a type of machine readable medium. Tangible non-transitory “storage” type media include any or all of the memory or other storage for the computers, processors, or the like, or associated modules thereof, such as various semiconductor memories, tape drives, disk drives and the like, which may provide storage at any time for the software programming.

All or portions of the software may at times be communicated through a network such as the Internet or various other telecommunication networks. Such communications, for example, may enable loading of the software from one computer or processor into another, for example, from a management server or host computer of the engine 200 into the hardware platform(s) of a computing environment or other system implementing a computing environment or similar functionalities in connection with the blood pressure monitoring. Thus, another type of media that may bear the software elements includes optical, electrical and electromagnetic waves, such as used across physical interfaces between local devices, through wired and optical landline networks and over various air-links. The physical elements that carry such waves, such as wired or wireless links, optical links or the like, also may be considered as media bearing the software. As used herein, unless restricted to tangible “storage” media, terms such as computer or machine “readable medium” refer to any medium that participates in providing instructions to a processor for execution.

Hence, a machine-readable medium may take many forms, including a tangible storage medium, a carrier wave medium or physical transmission medium. Non-volatile storage media include, for example, optical or magnetic disks, such as any of the storage devices in any computer(s) or the like, which may be used to implement the system or any of its components as shown in the drawings. Volatile storage media include dynamic memory, such as a main memory of such a computer platform. Tangible transmission media include coaxial cables; copper wire and fiber optics, including the wires that form a bus within a computer system. Carrier-wave transmission media may take the form of electric or electromagnetic signals, or acoustic or light waves such as those generated during radio frequency (RF) and infrared (IR) data communications. Common forms of computer-readable media therefore include for example: a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, DVD or DVD-ROM, any other optical medium, punch cards paper tape, any other physical storage medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM and EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, a carrier wave transporting data or instructions, cables or links transporting such a carrier wave, or any other medium from which a computer may read programming code and/or data. Many of these forms of computer readable media may be involved in carrying one or more sequences of one or more instructions to a physical processor for execution.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that the present disclosure are amenable to a variety of modifications and/or enhancements. For example, although the implementation of various components described above may be embodied in a hardware device, it may also be implemented as a software only solution—for example, an installation on an existing server. In addition, the blood pressure monitoring system as disclosed herein may be implemented as a firmware, firmware/software combination, firmware/hardware combination, or a hardware/firmware/software combination.

EXAMPLE

The following example is provided for illustration purposes, and not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

A system used for measuring one or more physiological parameters of interest may include a testing device 1300, a peripheral equipment 240 (not shown in FIG. 13, see FIG. 2) and a server 120 (not shown in FIG. 13, see FIG. 1). FIG. 13 illustrates an exemplary testing device 1300 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The testing device 1300 may include a measurement module 1310, a calibration module 1340, and/or a terminal 1360. The testing device 1300 may be connected or otherwise communicate with the terminal 1360.

The measurement module 1310 may be configured for acquiring information, for example, an ECG signal, a PPG signal, blood oxygen information, or the like, or a combination thereof. The measurement module 1310 also may be configured for analyzing and processing the acquired information, or determining or estimating a physiological parameter of interest (for example, a blood pressure), or both. The calibration module 1340 is configured for acquiring a set of calibration data. The set of calibration data may be transmitted to the measurement module 1310 in real time. In some embodiments, the set of calibration data may be transmitted to the server 120, or may be displayed in the personal health manager 1000. In the embodiment, the calibration module 1340 may be a cuff-based blood pressure device (e.g., a cuff-based blood pressure monitor).

According to the embodiment, the measurement module 1310 includes an ECG acquisition unit configured for acquiring ECG signals by way of electric sensing method, and a blood oxygen acquisition unit configured for acquiring blood oxygen related information (e.g., blood oxygen data, a plurality of PPG signals) by way of photoelectric sensing method. The acquired signals or information may be stored in the server 120, or a storage device (not shown in FIG. 13) integrated in the measurement module 1310, or any storage device disclosed anywhere in the present disclosure.

The testing device 1300 may be a wearable device, a portable device, a medical monitoring device in hospital, or health-care monitoring device at home, or the like. The testing device 1300 may be a monitoring device, the schematic diagram is illustrated in FIG. 13 (some details have been elided for brevity). The measurement module 1310 includes an ECG acquisition unit and a blood oxygen acquisition unit. It may be seen that a plurality of electrodes 1320 are located on the chest of the subject and the electrodes are configured for recording one or more potential changes of the subject. The potential changes may constitute an ECG waveform and the ECG waveform may be transmitted to the measurement module 1310 by one or more wires. It also may be seen that one or more photoelectric sensors 1330 are located on the finger of the subject and the photoelectric sensors are configured for detecting one or more PPG signals or pulse wave related signals. The detected signals may be transmitted to the measurement module 1310 by wires or wirelessly. In this embodiment, the one or more photoelectric sensors are located on the finger of the subject and this arrangement or locating form is only provided for illustration purposes. In one example, the one or more photoelectric sensors may be located in the upper arm of the subject.

According to the embodiment, the calibration module 1340 may include a cuff-based blood pressure monitor. The cuff-based blood pressure monitor may be configured for acquiring SBP and DBP values that may be used as calibration data (e.g., SBP0, DBP0, PTT0, or the like, or a combination thereof.) during one or more processes of the measurement module 1310. As illustrated, the cuff-based blood pressure monitor may include a cuff (see 1340), a pneumatic device (not shown in FIG. 13), a cable 1350, a transceiver (not shown in FIG. 13), and/or a controller (not shown in FIG. 13). The cuff may feature an internal, airtight pocket that may be secured onto a portion of a subject to deliver a pressure. For instance, the cuff may wrap around the subject's upper arm to deliver a pressure. The pneumatic device may include a pump, a valve, analog/digital converter, etc. During the process of acquiring calibration data, the pneumatic device may inflate the cuff and acquire a plurality of data (e.g., SBP0, DBP0, or the like, or a combination thereof.). The acquired data may be transmitted by the cable 1350 to the transceiver (not shown in FIG. 13) for subsequent process.

The acquired ECG signal, PPG signal, calibration data (e.g., SBP0, DBP0, PTT0, or the like, or a combination thereof) may be transmitted to the measurement module 1310 to be used for calculating a blood pressure value of the subject. The calculation may be performed by the measurement module 1310, or may be performed by an analysis module (not shown) integrated in the measurement module 1310. In some embodiments, the measurement module 1310 may be a wearable or portable device separate from and capable of communicating with one or more photoelectric sensors 1330, the electrodes 1320, and/or the calibration module 1340, as illustrated in FIG. 13. In some embodiments, the measurement module 1310 may be packaged together with the calibration module 1340. For instance, the measurement module 1310 may be attached to the cuff of the calibration module 1340.

Before the calculation, one or more operations may be performed, for example, pre-treatment, feature identification, parameter estimation, calibration, or the like, or a combination thereof. More descriptions regarding the analysis may be found in International Patent Application No. PCT/CN2015/083334 filed Jul. 3, 2015 and International Patent Application No. PCT/CN/2015/096498 filed Dec. 5, 2015. The calculated physiological parameter of interest may be uploaded to personal health manager 1000 as illustrated in FIG. 10. The details may be displayed in the terminal 1360, or may be transmitted to a related third party (for example, a medical institution). The details may be displayed in a display device (see FIG. 13) of the measurement module 1310.

The testing device 1300 may also include one or more additional components including a WIFI device, a blue tooth device, a NFC device, a GPS device, or the like, or a combination thereof. For instance, the WIFI device may be used for linking to a wireless network. The blue tooth device may be used for data transformation among some wired or wireless terminals within a certain distance. The NFC device may be used to enable terminals establishing radio communication within a short distance (10 cm or less). The GPS device may allow the subject to find his own position, or the GPS device may be used to navigate, or the like, or a combination thereof. The additional components may be connected or otherwise communicate with the measurement module 1310, the calibration module 1340, the terminal 1360, and the server 120.

The testing device 1300 may be used in a health care institute (e.g., a hospital), or may be used at home. The testing device 1300 may be used for real time physiological parameter monitoring. The acquired signals, information, data, or calculated physiological parameters of interest may be displayed in real time in a display device (not shown) or in the terminal 1360. The subject, a user other than the subject (e.g., a doctor) may review the related information anywhere and anytime. In some embodiments, if the testing device 1300 is used at home, the testing device 1300 may communicate with a healthcare provider located in a location remote from the subject. The communication may be achieved directly by the testing device 1300, or indirectly via, for example, the terminal 1360 carried by the subject. The physiological parameter, as well as location information, of the subject may be transmitted to the healthcare provider in real-time, periodically, or when a triggering event occurs. Exemplary trigger events are described elsewhere in the present disclosure. When an emergency occurs, for example, the physiological parameter exceeding a threshold, the healthcare provider may be notified, the subject may be located based on the positioning information from the GPS or location sensor, and medical services may be provided accordingly.

Having thus described the basic concepts, it may be rather apparent to those skilled in the art after reading this detailed disclosure that the foregoing detailed disclosure is intended to be presented by way of example only and is not limiting. Various alterations, improvements, and modifications may occur and are intended to those skilled in the art, though not expressly stated herein. These alterations, improvements, and modifications are intended to be suggested by this disclosure, and are within the spirit and scope of the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure.

Moreover, certain terminology has been used to describe embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the terms “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” and/or “some embodiments” mean that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. Therefore, it is emphasized and should be appreciated that two or more references to “an embodiment” or “one embodiment” or “an alternative embodiment” in various portions of this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures or characteristics may be combined as suitable in one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. In addition, the term “logic” is representative of hardware, firmware, software (or any combination thereof) to perform one or more functions. For instance, examples of “hardware” include, but are not limited to, an integrated circuit, a finite state machine, or even combinatorial logic. The integrated circuit may take the form of a processor such as a microprocessor, an application specific integrated circuit, a digital signal processor, a micro-controller, or the like.

Further, it will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the present disclosure may be illustrated and described herein in any of a number of patentable classes or context including any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof. Accordingly, aspects of the present disclosure may be implemented entirely hardware, entirely software (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or combining software and hardware implementation that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “unit,” “module,” “component,” or “system.” Furthermore, aspects of the present disclosure may take the form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer readable media having computer readable program code embodied thereon.

A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signal with computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms, including electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. A computer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage medium and that may communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. Program code embodied on a computer readable signal medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java, Scala, Smalltalk, Eiffel, JADE, Emerald, C++, C#, VB. NET, Python or the like, conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language, Visual Basic, Fortran 2003, Perl, COBOL 2002, PHP, ABAP, dynamic programming languages such as Python, Ruby and Groovy, or other programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider) or in a cloud computing environment or offered as a service such as a Software as a Service (SaaS).

Furthermore, the recited order of processing elements or sequences, or the use of numbers, letters, or other designations therefore, is not intended to limit the claimed processes and methods to any order except as may be specified in the claims. Although the above disclosure discusses through various examples what is currently considered to be a variety of useful embodiments of the disclosure, it is to be understood that such detail is solely for that purpose, and that the appended claims are not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, are intended to cover modifications and equivalent arrangements that are within the spirit and scope of the disclosed embodiments. For example, although the implementation of various components described above may be embodied in a hardware device, it may also be implemented as a software only solution—for example, an installation on an existing server or mobile device. In addition, the financial management system disclosed herein may be implemented as a firmware, firmware/software combination, firmware/hardware combination, or a hardware/firmware/software combination.

Similarly, it should be appreciated that in the foregoing description of embodiments of the present disclosure, various features are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure aiding in the understanding of one or more of the various inventive embodiments. This method of disclosure, however, is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed subject matter requires more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, inventive embodiments lie in less than all features of a single foregoing disclosed embodiment. 

1. A device, comprising: a storage device storing instructions; and at least one processor in communication with the storage device, wherein when executing the instructions, the at least one processor is configured to cause the device to perform operations comprising: receiving a first signal representing heart activity of a subject, receiving a plurality of second signals representing time-varying information on a pulse wave of the subject; determining a blood oxygen level of the subject based on the plurality of second signals; identifying a first feature in the first signal; identifying a second feature in one of the plurality of second signals; determining a pulse transit time based on a difference between the first feature and the second feature; and determining a blood pressure of the subject based on the pulse transit time.
 2. The device of claim 1, the receiving the first signal comprising communicating with a first sensor configured to acquire the first signal of the subject.
 3. The device of claim 2, the first sensor comprising a plurality of electrodes.
 4. The device of claim 1, the receiving the plurality of second signals comprising communicating with one or more second sensors.
 5. The device of claim 4, one of the one or more second sensors comprising a photoelectric sensor.
 6. The device of claim 1, the first signal or at least one of the plurality of second signals comprising an optical signal or an electric signal.
 7. The device of claim 1, wherein, the first feature of the first signal corresponds to a first time point; the identifying the second feature comprises: selecting a segment of the second signal, the segment occurring within a time window from the first time point; and locating the second feature corresponding to a second time point in the segment; and the determining the pulse transit time comprises determining a time interval between the first time point and the second time point.
 8. The device of claim 1, wherein the first signal or the second signal comprises an ECG waveform, a PPG waveform, or a BCG waveform.
 9. The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further or configured to cause the device to communicate with a cuff-based blood pressure monitor.
 10. The device of claim 9, the cuff-based blood pressure monitor being configured to coordinate a blood pressure measurement with the receiving of the first signal or the receiving of the plurality of second signals.
 11. A method implemented on a device including at least one processor, the method comprising: receiving a first signal representing heart activity of a subject; receiving a plurality of second signals representing time-varying information on a pulse wave of the subject; determining a blood oxygen level of the subject based on the plurality of second signals; identifying a first feature in the first signal; identifying a second feature in one of the plurality of second signals; determining a pulse transit time based on a difference between the first feature and the second feature; and determining a blood pressure of the subject based on the pulse transit time.
 12. The method of claim 11, further comprising acquiring the first signal at a first location on the body of the subject.
 13. The method of claim 11, further comprising acquiring the second signal at a second location on the body of the subject.
 14. The method of claim 11, the first signal or at least one of the plurality of second signals comprising an optical signal or an electric signal.
 15. The method of claim 11, wherein, the first feature of the first signal corresponds to a first time point; the identifying the second feature comprises: selecting a segment of the second signal, the segment occurring within a time window from the first time point; and locating the second feature corresponding to a second time point in the segment; and the determining the pulse transit time comprises determining a time interval between the first time point and the second time point.
 16. The method of claim 11, wherein the plurality of second signals are acquired in real time or at a first time interval.
 17. The method of claim 11, further comprising acquiring a set of calibration data from a cuff-based blood pressure monitor, the set of calibration data being used to calibrate the determining of the blood pressure. 18-24. (canceled)
 25. The method of claim 17, wherein the set of calibration data is acquired at a second time interval.
 26. The device of claim 1, wherein the plurality of second signals are acquired in real time or at a first time interval.
 27. The device of claim 10, wherein the cuff-based blood pressure monitor is further configured to provide a set of calibration data acquired at a second time interval, the set of calibration data being used to calibrate the determining of the blood pressure. 